


Miraculous Fluff

by Cornerverse



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, F/F, F/M, M/M, Soulmate AU, The Bee Kwami is under a different name
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-06
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-12 00:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 19,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11725737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornerverse/pseuds/Cornerverse
Summary: I'm participating in Miraculous Fluff Month. Each day is a different prompt, so each chapter is a different day. But as the name implies, it's all fluff. Some will be the 'comfort' part of 'hurt/comfort', or a happiness that comes from something sad, but it's all fluff to me.Character and ship tags will be added as needed.





	1. Blush

                “Okay,” Chloé laughed. “So did I ever tell you about this one time, when we were six, at the park?”

                “Oh stars, Chloé no!” Adrien groaned. “You can’t!”

                “Oh no, now she’s got to tell us!” Alya laughed.

                “So, his mom took us to the park,” Chloé went on. “The one near the hotel, with the playground? Anyway, Adrien went down the slide, and then stops and sits at the edge. I followed down and kicked him off with my momentum.”

                “Dude, you should know the rules of playground slides,” Nino sighed.

                “I know, right?” she laughed. “But he was too distracted by the guy on the swingset! Our age, decently cute, beautiful red hair that Adrien said, and I quote, ‘I just want to run my hands through it’.”

                “Chloé, stop before he melts,” Marinette rolled her eyes with an exasperated smile.

                “No way, I’ve got to hear the end of this!” Alya said.

                “I decide that we should play with him,” Chloé continued. “Now, I was just going to force them to interact, make Adrikins look all awkward in front of his little crush, then tease him about it for the next few days, maybe two weeks, but we didn’t even get to tell him our names.”

                “If the ground could swallow me up right now that’d be great!” Adrien muttered, blushing shade associated with superheroes.

                “What did he do?” Marinette and Nino asked, getting into the story now.

                “We walk over to the swings,” Chloé said, wicked grin on her face. “I’m pretty much dragging him behind me. I don’t even get to speak before Adrien blurts out ‘If you were a vegetable, you’d be a Cute-cumber’!”

                The group began to howl with laughter, when suddenly they were cut off by a spray of water and the sound of choking. Looking over their shoulders, apparently Nathaniel had heard them, and was mid-drink when Chloé delivered the line.

                Nath’s face was almost as red as Adrien’s, staring at them in some mixture of horror and embarrassment. After a moment, Marinette snorted with laughter.

                “Oh my stars!” Marinette between gasps of giggles. “Oh my freaking stars, tell me this is a coincidence!”

                “What’s a coincidence?” Alya asked.

                “He-he- I can’t!” she cackled.

                “Don’t!” Nathaniel shushed, reaching across the desk to put his hands over her mouth.

                Marinette ducked, moving backward and leaving him sprawled across the table, trying to reach her. Giggles subsiding enough to breathe, she looked back to the group.

                “Nath told me about a guy who used that line on him!” Marinette said. “When he was six. In the park. On the swings!”

                “Oh my stars,” Alya started laughing too.

                “What kind of serendipitous fuckery…?” Chloé muttered, laughing in a more exasperated manner.

                Both boys looked at one another, and somehow blushed even harder and hid their faces in their hands.


	2. Goodnight Kisses

                “Marinette, you should go to sleep,” Tikki said from her spot on the desk.

                “Yeah, in a minute,” Marinette replied with a wave. “Let me finish the stitching on this.”

                “You’ve been saying that for two hours,” she sighed.

                Tikki pouted for a few more minutes, but when Marinette didn’t look to be stopping, she decided she had to do something. Floating up to Marinette’s side, she activated a small bit of magic. Kwami have very few spells they can use without a Chosen and a Miraculous, and Tikki was less likely to use hers, but this seemed like an appropriate situation.

                It wasn’t a sleep spell, exactly. She could radiate auras of emotions, and in this case she used Calm. It worked well, relaxing Marinette’s brain, letting her think of how tired she was instead of how much work she had left to do. When Marinette yawned, Tikki stopped her magic.

                “It is pretty late,” Marinette said, setting down her supplies.

                “You can still get a few hours of sleep,” Tikki said, guiding her to the bed.

                As Marinette climbed under the covers, Tikki flew over to the light switch, plunging them into darkness. She heard a mumbled ‘goodnight’ as she made her way to one of the pillows.

                “Goodnight, Marinette,” Tikki smiled, kissing her cheek and letting out a yawn of her own. “See you in the morning.”


	3. Sweets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm using my old name for the Bee Kwami until she actually appears on screen.

                “You and your cheese,” Tikki rolled her eyes.

                “You and your sweets!” Plagg retorted.

                The two Kwami glared at one another, before turning and refusing to acknowledge each other.

                “Do they do this often?” Chloé asked.

                “For Humans, no,” Wayzz answered. “For Kwami, once every hundred years or so is often enough.”

                Chloé smiled at the pair, their arms crossed and faces contorted into an angry pout. She hadn’t exactly figured that ‘babysitting’ would be in her Heroic Job Description, but sometimes your teammates wanted to go on a romantic evening without certain troublemakers. And she was the only currently-dateless person who knew about the Kwami, and could get them to their Chosen if something should happen to pop up.

                As the argument started up again, Chloé took the time to text the hotel’s room service. After all, part of ‘babysitting’ 5000 year old god-like creatures included feeding them.

                “I’m just saying, I have no idea how you handle all that sugar!”Plagg exclaimed.

                “The same way you handle all that cheese!”Tikki retorted. “At least my sweets smell better!”

                “But cheese can be eaten on its own!” he insisted. “How many people eat straight up sugar? No, they all make cookies or whatever!”

                “Wayzz, back me up on this!” she demanded.

                “Unfortunately, this is the one time I agree with Plagg,” Wayzz said.

                “Wait, seriously?” Plagg, Tikki and Chloé chorused.

                “It is strange for me as well,” he said. “But while I do not care for cheese as much as he does, sweet things are not to my liking.”

                “While I think this argument is silly,” Lancee began, “I do prefer sweetness.”

                Tikki put her arm around the Bee Kwami’s shoulders, giving Plagg a triumphant smirk. In turn, he frowned and roughly pulled Wayzz to his side. Both then stared intently at the fifth Kwami in the room.

                “Hey, don’t look at me!” Trixx said, backing up a bit. “I’m not getting wrapped up in this again!”

                “You, of all Kwami, don’t want to get into an argument?” Wayzz asked. “Whatever happened to your chaotic nature?”

                “Hey, a bit of mischief is fun,” she defended. “But they’ve been doing this for years, and I’m always the deciding vote that can’t vote! Even if we had Nooroo and Duusu here, they would take Tikki’s side while he would take Plagg’s, leaving me trying to fight them off for saying I can’t pick a side!”

                With that, the group turned to Chloé. Immediately, she began thinking up answers and excuses. Thankfully, she was saved by a knock on the door.

                She jumped up from her chair, sighing in relief at the timing. It was a little tough to get the tray through the door without opening it enough for the delivery guy to see the Kwami or hear the fighting Kwami. As she walked back, she cursed herself for how suspicious that looked. Hopefully, that combined with the strange assortment of food would convince him to brush it off as strange pms cravings or something.

                “Food’s here!” Chloé announced to the group. “First up, tea that’s about half honey for Lancee.”

                “Thank you,” Lancee said, pulling herself away from Tikki to drink from the mug set on the table.

                “Salad for Wayzz,” she continued. “And Colombo de Martinique for Trixx.”

                “I totally forgot Alya’s mom was your chef,” Trixx said while Wayzz tried to release himself from Plagg’s grip.

                “And finally, for Tikki and Plagg,” she began.

                She set one more plate down on the table. Five pairs of eyes stared up at her in confusion. Still, she kept a straight face.

                “What is that?” Plagg asked, breaking their silence.

                “It’s a cheesecake,” Chloé said.

                “A what now?” Tikki frowned.

                “You live with Marinette, how has she not given you a cheesecake?” she asked.

                “Probably heard of her dislike of cheese and decided against it,” Wayzz said.

                “Oh, that’s beautiful!” Trixx chuckled.

                “Why?” Plagg asked.

                “It’s a cheesecake,” Lancee explained.

                “I’m not getting it,” Tikki said.

                “It is a cake made with a type of cheese,” Chloé explained. “Cream cheese, to be specific. It’s a sweet made of cheese. A perfect snack for you two to share.”

                Both Kwami frowned, looking at the slice of cake then her again. Eventually, Plagg stuck his paw into the thing and brought a chunk to his mouth. He mulled the taste over for a moment before grabbing another pawfull. Unfortunately, he flung it at Tikki.

                “Hey!” Tikki shouted, frowning through the cake.

                “Oh shush,” Plagg rolled his eyes. “Just try it.”

                Tikki glared at him for a moment before grabbing the cake off her face. Hesitantly, the licked it. Chloé smiled seeing her face light up in surprise.

                “It’s… good?” Tikki said.

                “Weird,” Plagg said. “It’s not as good as camembert but-“

                He was cut off by another scoop of cheesecake hitting him in the face. Tikki looked away oh so innocently, which caused a chuckle from Chloé and Lancee.

                “Food fight!” Trixx shouted before grabbing a piece for herself.

                Chloé was very glad for the Kwami’s small size as pieces of cake, salad, and spiced covered meat flew through the air. She wondered if ‘babysitting’ included bath time, or if she should let them go home sticky. She laughed at the idea of Plagg cleaning them by licking the rest of the food off, just to get a little more of the sweet cheesecake.


	4. Please Stay?

                “Want to talk?” Chloé asked.

                Alix looked down to her, sitting in the chair on the edge of the room. Then she looked to the hand clasping her wrist. Shrugging, she sat back down.

                “So, what did you want to talk about?” Alix asked, playing with the tie on her suit.

                “Anything, really,” Chloé answered. “I know you’re probably bored of all this too.”

                “Here I was thinking you’d love any reason to get all dressed up,” she smirked, pointing to the gold and black dress Chloé was wearing.

                “Dressing up I like,” she said, picking at the black accents on her skirt. “Having to smile and wave at all the important people in Paris? Not so much.”

                “Yeah,” she agreed. “I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for dad wanting more money funded to the museum. Jalil got to stay home. Then again, I’m the ‘adorable one’. Which means people are more likely to give money when ‘cute little girls’ are involved.”

                “Nice,” she said. “You’re not wrong. Dad says that having me around and on my best behavior makes him look more relatable to the people of the city.”

                They shared a smirk before cracking into laughter.

                “Nice,” Alix said. “So, what do you usually do here?”

                “Usually I’d drag Adrien with me,” Chloé answered. “But he had plans with Nino tonight, so I’m on my own.”

                “What’s the deal with you two anyway?” she wondered. “Like, you’ve said you’ve known each other forever.”

                “Our parents are-were friends,” she said. “His mom and my dad knew each other from back in their school days. Eventually, Felicia, Adrien’s mom, got into modeling and my dad got into politics, but they stayed in touch.”

                “Modeling, huh?” she said. “Isn’t Adrien’s dad some big fashion designer?”

                “Yep, she fell for her boss,” she said. “My mom was another one of Gabriel’s models. She came with Felicia to a party and hit it off with my dad. You can figure out the math on how Adrien and I got here.”

                “Ugh, yeah,” she stuck out her tongue.

                “So I’ve known Adrien pretty much since he was born,” she said before clarifying. “I’m two weeks older.”

                “So, model mom, huh?” she said. “No wonder you’re pretty. No offense to him, but your dad isn’t really on the same level.”

                “He looked better when he was younger,” she defended. “But thanks for the compliment anyway.”

                “Yeah, well,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck. “I’m not wrong.”

                Chloé absentmindedly played with her hair as she attempted to change the subject. It was easy, talking to Alix. They made snarky comments about most of the guests they had met, how corrupt or creepy they were. During a particularly long bout of laughter, they heard Alix’s name called from across the room.

                “Ugh, sorry,” Alix sighed. “Dad probably wants to give his ‘the museum teaches the Youth of Today!’ speech.”

                “Please stay?” Chloé asked.

                “Would if I could,” she said. “Trust me, I’d love to drag you out of here and go anywhere else. But dad needs me for whatever.”

                “See you on Monday then?” she asked.

                “Yeah, definitely,” she smiled. “We can continue our rant on Monsieur Creep Moustache.”

                Chloé laughed, giving her a playful smack on the shoulder before she left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a Deleted Scene from The One Where Chloé Knows.


	5. Firsts

                “Guys, I have a great idea!”

                It was a nice, cold, winter weekend. Marinette, Alya, and Nino had made it to their usual spot in the park and waited for Adrien. They didn’t expect him to be dragging Chloé and Sabrina behind him.

                “Er, what are you doing?” Alya asked as he stopped.

                “Let’s have a snowball fight!” Adrien exclaimed.

                “Why am I here?” Chloé demanded.

                “Because,” he said, twirling to face her, “I want my old friend and my new friend to get along. It’d be so much better for a large group hangout than just small groups of three or four. And if all six of us are here, I can finally have a decent snowball fight!”

                “Wait, you’ve never been in a snowball fight?” Marinette asked.

                “Well, Chloé and I did,” he said. “But there’s a difference between one on one and a whole out battle, right?”

                “Well then,” Nino smiled. “Let’s make your first real snowball fight the best one ever.”

                “How are we doing this?” Alya asked. “Teams of two would be best. How about me with Nino, Chloé and Sabrina, and the Marinette with Adrien.”

                “Uh, well, that is,” Marinette stammered.

                “Works for me,” Nino shrugged.

                “Not me!”Chloé frowned. “I want to be on Adrien’s team!”

                “Well too bad,” Alya frowned.

                “Guys, stop!” Adrien commanded.

                They all paused to look at him, not used to hearing him raise his voice at them.

                “The whole point of this is you all getting along,” Adrien said. “First rule, no petty fighting. Snowballs and friendly-competition trash talk is allowed, but don’t be… you know?”

                “Fine,” Alya pouted.

                “Secondly, different teams,” he said. “You’re getting paired with people you wouldn’t usually pick. So, I’m with Alya, then Nino and Sabrina, and Mari with Chloé.”

                “No!” both girls shouted at him.

                “Do you want to die?” Nino asked almost casually.

                “I really want you two to get along,” Adrien said, ignoring the outburst. “If you stopped arguing for a bit, I know you’ll get along.”

                “Doubt it,” they mumbled.

                “Please?” he sighed.

                “Fine,” the begrudgingly agreed.

                The group paired off and set to building up their defenses in a triangle. Adrien and Alya were working well, and Nino and Sabrina seemed to be getting along well enough to work. But Marinette was the only one building their small fort while Chloé sat against a pile of snow and pouted.

                “Come on,” Marinette groaned. “We’re supposed to be working together.”

                “I’ll be civil, but I am not working with you,” Chloé retorted.

                “Not even for your ‘Adrikins’?” she asked.

                “Ugh!” she exclaimed, standing up. “That’s it! I’m going home!”

                Brushing the snow off her jacket, Chloé began to stomp off toward the park’s exit. Then a snowball flew into the back of her head.

                She whirled, glaring at the direction it had come from. Eyes locked on Adrien, barely suppressing laughter, and another snowball ready in his hand.

                “Don’t you dare-“ Chloé began before getting the snowball to the face.

                Her mouth was open in shock as Adrien descended into straight-up cackles. She frowned, fist cenching up in anger.

                “You’re going down, Agreste!” Chloé screamed.

                She dropped down and gathered her own snowball, quickly chucking it at him. He fell back when it hit his chest, and she gave a triumphant yell before ducking down.

                “Okay, we don’t get along,” Chloé said to Marinette. “But we’re working together for this, okay?”

                “Sure,” Marinette agreed. “We can go back to hating each other once they’re down!”

                The two gathered their ammunition, quickly chucking and ducking. Chloé was a bit faster, firing a bit quicker, but she didn’t land as many solid hits as Marinette did. Nor did she dodge as easily as she did. She wondered when Marinette had learned to aim.

                Chloé checked on the others when she popped her head up to throw. Adrien aimed and dodged like Marinette did. Far too accurate. She almost swore the two of them were in sync, despite being on opposite teams.

                Alya was pretty ruthless, going for power more than aim. Nino had a fair balance, since his hits didn’t hurt as much as Alya did. Sabrina was doing fairly well, though she was the only one to not aim for Chloé.

                They’d been going for a while, each team getting good hits on one another. Then they heard a whooping sound. A small pink and green shape ran through the field, nailing Chloé and Nino with snowballs. It was followed by another whooping shape, this one bigger and in red and black, who tossed snowballs at Adrien but missed Sabrina.

                “Was-was that Alix and Kim?” Marinette asked.

                “I sent out a mass text!” Alya shouted from her fort. “Our whole class is showing up.”

                Sure enough, a little bit after Alix and Kim stopped to actually greet them, the group wandered up.

                “Rose, I know you’re not here to snowball fight!” Nino called. “You’re too sweet!”

                “Yeah, but she makes perfect ammo!” Juleka called back, putting her arm around her shorter, pink, friend.

                “Okay everyone!” Marinette called. “We’ll take a few minutes break while everyone builds their defenses. Choose your teams!”

                “Hey, how come they get to choose teams?!” Chloé asked.

                “Because you’re already wrecking house!” Adrien answered. “Do you really want to throw off your groove now?”

                “Did you actually just say ‘throw off your groove’?” Kim asked.

                “We watched the Emperor’s New Groove before coming over,” Sabrina answered.

                Everyone gave a sort of exasperated smile before working on their defenses. Chloé worked on improving their fort  while Marinette worked on making more snowballs.

                “Okay, who’s doing what?” Chloé asked.

                “What?” Marinette wondered, popping her head up from the snow.

                “You know their snowball tactics better than I do,” she said. “Who’s going to do what, and how do we counter it?”

                “Are you actually asking me for advice?” she asked, confused look on her face.

                “Yes,” she sighed. “Okay, I’m not going to be your ‘bff’. But Adrien’s right. When we’re not fighting, we work well together. So how is this going to go?”

                “You’re not wrong,” she mused. “Okay, don’t try and hit Alix or Kim. Just dodge what they throw. Good luck hitting Mylène, but Ivan is an easy target. Don’t worry about dodging Nath or Max, but watch out for Juleka.”

                Chloé nodded before the call went out to start the game. Though she did test out how her skills would work on them, Marinette’s advice worked well.

                Alix and Kim were impossible to hit. They hadn’t bothered with a fort, just doing like they had when they showed up. The duo ran across the field, chucking snowballs at everyone, and one another, as they went before picking up more ammo on the other end.

                Juleka hit just as hard as Alya, but Rose was the secret to the team. She was hiding out of sight, making snowball after snowball. She was quick, making sure Juleka could just grab and toss without wait.

                Ivan and Mylène were the very definition of Offense and Defense. He rarely threw anything, opting to be a shield instead. Occasionally Mylène’s colorful hair would pop out and launch her snowballs.

                Nathaniel and Max had good aim, oddly enough. But their throws were fairly weak, most of them brushing off the hit easily. To be fair, neither looked like they were that interested in it.

                Chloé was doing well. She’d managed to hit Alix twice, mostly on accident, and dodged a good about of Juleka’s snowballs. She tried not to be too mean, going for easy targets. But sometimes she couldn’t help it when Nathaniel’s head popped up.

                “I have a dumb idea,” Marinette said.

                “Go for it!” Chloé shouted.

                Grabbing a few snowballs, Marinette did like Alix and Kim, jumping out into the open field. She launched snowballs in every direction, but all Chloé could watch was her dodging. She was sure Marinette didn’t even know the word ‘graceful’, but that’s the only word to describe the way she jumped and dodged out of the way.

                Chloé provided cover. Most people were watching Marinette, so she could easily scan for anyone aiming at her. Every time an arm reeled back, she was quicker, knocking them off kilter.

                Of course, eventually, she saw Adrien hop over his barrier as well. Chloé knew they were in for a show. He had that look. That dumb smirk that says ‘bring it’. She watched as he did a limbo-duck under Marinette’s snowball, popping back up and sticking his tongue out at her before launching an attack of his own.

                She had expected that Marinette would freeze up, perhaps even faint, at the interaction. After all, her crush isn’t exactly subtle. Instead, she redoubled her efforts, focusing solely on him.

                Chloé watched them, blocking out nearly all of the other fighters. No one else noticed, exactly. Sure, they saw Marinette and Adrien fighting it out. But the longer she watched, the more it looked almost like an aggressive dance.

                Adrien threw a snowball, and Marinette spun out of the way. She put her whole body into a toss, reeling up like a pitcher. He jumped and rolled, landing upright and tossing another one.

                They went back and forth, matching one another. Even when everyone else grew tired. If Chloé didn’t know better, she’d think that maybe they’d done this before.

                She picked up another snowball, and waited for her opportunity. Right when Adrien dodged, she hurled the snowball, hitting him in the side of the face. Marinette was shocked for a moment, before breaking down in laughter.

                “Hey guys, who’s tired?” Marinette called out.

                There was a general murmur of responses. Most were getting worn out or a little too frozen, though Alix boasted that she was still ready to go.

                “Okay then!” Marinette said. “How about we head over to my family’s bakery for hot chocolate?”

                That got more of a cheer. The whole group wandered in that general direction. Everyone was laughing, complimenting their tactics and panning new teamups for the next time. Chloé actually managed to snort with laughter when Alix complimented her on beaning Adrien in the face.

                There was a sigh as everyone entered the warmth of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Marinette hugged her mom before everyone lined up to order. Chloé didn’t really even think of it until Madame Cheng gave her that look at the register.

                She was having fun. Other than Adrien and Sabrina, she’d never gotten along with any of the people here. Someone, usually her, always ended up saying something and ruining it. But for the first time, she liked being around them, interacting with them. She shook it off, deciding that she wasn’t going to ruin the moment by thinking about it. Just ride it out.

                Instead, she stepped over to where Adrien was. Madame Cheng had trapped him in conversation. And from the look on Marinette’s face, it’s definitely the ‘I know my daughter likes you so I’m checking out if you’re good for her’ talk. Even if Adrien was oblivious.

                “So, did you have fun?” Chloé asked.

                “Well, you two did, so yeah,” Adrien answered.

                “It was pretty great,” Marinette said, her cheeks still pink.

                “Oh, and don’t think I didn’t notice your mini-battle,” Chloé said as the duo took a drink. “You two in the middle of a flurry of snowballs, firing and dodging in one movement. Really, Adrien, it was kind of epic. You were almost a little like Chat Noir.”

                The two of them choked on their hot chocolate at the comment. She laughed as it quickly turned into an apology fest before turning back to watch everyone. They were all having just as much fun. Thinking for a moment, she made a decision and went back to the counter.

                “Hello again,” Chloé greeted, taking her debit card out of her wallet. “I’d like to buy a few pastries and such. Well, a lot of pastries and such. Enough for the group, since we’re all here. Um, I think it’d be better if I ask what they want first, huh?”

                “That’s quite alright dear,” Madame Cheng replied, though her expression said otherwise. “Marinette has brought her friends over before, so I remember everyone’s favorites. I’m just glad none of them have any food allergies.”

                “You’re confused on why I’m here, aren’t you?” she asked. “Why I’m being ‘nice’.”

                “It might be rude to say,” she nodded. “But after Christmas’s incident….”

                “Oh, right, sorry about that,” she smiled nervously. “I know I’m not your favorite person, but today’s… I don’t know. A first for me.”

                “Well, hopefully there’s many more days like today,” she said.


	6. Blanket Fort

                “Okay, this is cool,” Chat said.

                He had come over to visit Marinette again. She’d said it was okay, after all. This time, since it was still fairly cold outside, Marinette had decided to build a blanket fort over her bed. Several comforters, quilts, and smaller blankets were draped and layered over her bed, hooked to the railing and ceiling to create a nest-like tent on the mattress.

                “A blanket fort is ‘cool’,” Marinette asked. “You make it sound like you’ve never had a blanket fort before.”

                “I’ve been in them,” Chat said. “But they weren’t quite as cozy.”

                “Well, you were probably a lot smaller at the time,” she said.

                “True,” he nodded. “It’s warm. Almost want to take a nap.”

                “Are you sure you’re not actually part cat?” she laughed. “Maybe it’s a side effect of your powers?”

                “Come on,” he said, sticking his tongue out at her. “You can’t tell me you don’t feel like falling asleep right now?”

                “Maybe a little,” she admitted with a pout. “But you’re still part cat.”

                “Honestly, as long as I can sleep, I’m whatever you say,” he laughed.

                He flopped over and stretched across the bed. Once he was comfortable, he looked up with an inviting look, patting the space beside him.

                “Fine,” Marinette agreed, smiling as she rolled her eyes.

                She flopped down with him, feeling how warm everything was. He hadn’t been wrong about it being the perfect nap temperature. Soon enough, both of them had nodded off to sleep. At least until Ayla burst in.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's a bit more hurt/comfort, but the focus is on the comfort so it counts.

                Chloé jolted upright, sending blankets and stuffed animals flying as she did. Her heart was pounding at her chest, as if trying to escape. She brought a hand up to her neck, just to be sure. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks.

                Still breathing hard, she fumbled for her phone. Squinting into the brightness, she tapped her way to a video call. As the phone kept ringing, she tried to remind herself that he was probably asleep.

                She started to breathe easier when he picked up. If she hadn’t been so panicked, she’d laugh at how messed up his hair was, at the expression he made, half-asleep and squinting into a too-bright phone screen.

                “Chloé?” Adrien muttered. “It’s four in the-“

                He stopped, waking up a bit more. Shifting up into a sitting position he started again.

                “What’s wrong?” he asked.

                “S-sorry,” Chloé shuddered out. “I just… I had to see you, you know?”

                “What happened?” he asked.

                “Just a dream,” she said. “One of your dumb weeaboo songs got stuck in my head, and it made itself into my dreams. Not the exact events, but just the themes of it. And the outfits.”

                “Which song?” he asked.

                Chloé couldn’t remember the name, but she began to hum its tune. A few bars in he tilted his head.

                “[Message of Regret](https://youtu.be/R4shMkF0ymk),” Adrien frowned. “So it was a nightmare then, not a dream.”

                “Yeah,” Chloé sighed. “As I said, it was the theme, not the events.”

                “What exactly happened in it?” he asked.

                “I-I’m not sure how it started,” she said. “I think we had been at some sort of party, with our classmates? Something happened, probably me being me, and Marinette became an Akuma. I don’t even know what her ‘thing’ was, I just remember that green dress.”

                “I’m guessing she went after you?” he said.

                “Yeah, but that I could handle,” she said. “Then Chat Noir showed up.

                “Not Ladybug?” he wondered.

                “Just Chat,” she said, shaking her head. “He managed to fight her pretty quick, using Cataclysm to destroy the Butterfly. But once she was back to normal I… stars, I don’t even know. I made some stupid comment. Just another jab at her. And Chat started yelling at me. Then I…“

                She trailed off, not wanting to tell him. Because, perhaps, it would make it come true. However, Adrien wasn’t going to let it go.

                “What did you do?” Adrien asked.

                “I yelled back at him,” Chloé answered. “I said something along the lines of  ‘Don’t judge me! You don’t even know me!. Then he said that he had thought he was the only one to know me. He- he was you.”

                “Me?” he asked. “Did the dream shift?”

                “No,” she said. “Just, you were Chat Noir. He-you- just dropped the transformation like fucking Sailor Moon.”

                “I think that’s the dreamworld talking,” he said with a little bit of a nervous chuckle. “Do you really think I could be Chat Noir?”

                “Honestly, yes,” she said. “I know you, and you’re both pretty similar. If you’re not Chat Noir, then he must be your soulmate.”

                “Back to the dream?” he asked awkwardly.

                “R-right,” she sighed. “You yelled at me. Saying how you had thought you were the only one to know me, the real me. But that you were the only one who didn’t know the real me. Because the real me was terrible, a monster. Evil.”

                “Chloé…” he said softly, trying to be comforting.

                “You got more and more upset,” she said, as if she hadn’t heard him. “And then you… the butterfly… you were an Akuma now. And you were still mad. And you-I-I think you killed me?”

                “I couldn’t have-“ he began.

                “I don’t know!” she cried. “You attacked and then I everything sort of jolted to Ladybug having fixed everything, bringing me back. She only glared at me, and you just…. You said you wanted nothing to do with me anymore. It hit me, how much I’d screwed everything up. I made you hate me. But it was too late to fix it. You were gone.”

                “Chloé, hey, are you okay?” he asked, voice as soft as ever.

                “I don’t know,” she said. “I just had to call you after that. I’m sorry that it’s four in the morning but I had to make sure you’d still answer me, that you didn’t hate me.”

                “You’d have to do a lot more than that to make me hate you,” he said.

                “But I’m not- I’m not a good person,” she said. “Everything that happened was something I would’ve said or done. And one day you’re going to see that I’m too far gone to be helped.”

                “I’m not, because I know you’re not,” he said. “Am I upset with how mean you can be to others? Yes. I would love it if you’d be nicer to them. Honestly, you’d get along with them really well if you did. But I’m not going to turn against you for that.”

                “Are you sure?” she asked. “What if I go too far?”

                “You won’t,” he said. “The song you were thinking about, do you remember its first two parts?”

                “A bit,” she admitted.

                “Then remember something,” he said. “You might not be my actual twin, but we’re close enough. And the brother never turned against his sister, no matter what she asked of him. I probably wouldn’t kill the one I love for you, but I’d do anything to keep you safe. I’ll try to lead you in a better direction, but I’m not going to turn against you. ”

                “Even cheer me up at four in the morning?” she smiled.

                “Absolutely,” he grinned.

                They were quiet for a moment. Just smiling, enjoying one another’s company.

                “Hey, do you think you could do me a favor?” Chloé asked.

                “Anything,” Adrien smiled.

                “Tomorrow, do you think, well,” she sighed. “Do you think you could convince your other friends to talk to me? Just for a little bit, without any mean or sarcastic comments?”

                “Do you want to make up with them?” he asked, smiling wide.

                “I don’t know if I can do more than ‘be civil’ at this point,” she said. “It’s just… I know that you don’t turn against me. But I don’t want you to take my place on the guillotine.”

                “Yeah, I like having my head,” he said.

                “I think that’d be best,” she laughed. “It’d be hard to make puns without it.”

                “I should quit while I’m-“

                “Don’t you dare!”

                “Ahead!”


	8. New

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's sad in setup but happy in theme? Also, again, I use a different name for the Bee Kwami because reasons.

                “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you buy new shoes,” Lancee said.

                “There’s a reason for that,” Chloé replied.

                “What reason?” she wondered.

                “I’ll tell you when we get there,” she replied.

                She smiled, knowing that the Kwami hidden in the collar of her jacket would be pouting. It was a long story, and not one she wanted to say aloud while walking down the streets. Instead, she just looked down at her new boots. Knee-length, black, with gold accents. They had a bit of a heel, but she still couldn’t quite match Adrien’s height in them.

                Soon enough, they reached where she needed. Adjusting the bag in her hand and the bouquet under her arm, she walked in. Since they were alone, Lancee decided to pop out and float beside her.

                “Are you going to cry?” Lancee asked.

                “No,” Chloé answered.

                “Are you sure?” she frowned. “Because usually Humans cry when they visit graveyards.”

                “I know,” she said, looking all the tombstones. “It’s sad, overall. But I’m not here for a cry fest, you know?”

                “Then what are you here for?” she asked.

                Chloé kept quiet and made her way through the rows. She hadn’t been here in a while, after all, it was the first time here with Lancee, but she still remembered where to go. Barely even a thought crossed her mind as her feet took her where she needed.

                The walk had felt shorter than before. Perhaps because there was less dread to it. While she still felt sadness in her heart, and a few tears trying to form in her eyes, she did not fear seeing the name on the tombstone.

                “Is that…?” Lancee began to ask.

                “Yes,” Chloé said with a nod, setting down her things.

                “What does she have to do with you and shoes?” she asked.

                “Everything,” she said.

                Chloé reached into the bag and took out her old shoes, since she’d worn the boots out of the store once she’d paid. The flats had once been white with black soles and a black stripe over the toe. Now, the white had dulled, some spots weak from wear. Last week, the sole on the left one had popped off. And the right sole was about a week away from having a hole through it. They had also been tight for a while, as she’d grown a bit since she got them.

                So many had asked why she didn’t get a new pair. She had thought about getting them fixed. Sure, Chloé had the money to take them to some sort of shoe repair place. But by the time they were fixed and resized, they’d be almost completely new shoes. It’d be as if she’d just bought a new pair of the same shoes.

                Besides, she felt ready now.

                “I got these as a gift,” Chloé said. “For Christmas the other year. They were the last gift she gave me.”

                “Oh,” Lancee said. “I’m sorry.”

                “It’s alright,” she smiled. “I held on to these for too long, refusing to wear another pair. I even wore these through the snow! Flats, in the snow! When it first happened, I didn’t think I’d ever recover. I skipped class for a week, and once I went back I refused to even talk or do my work. Everyone but Sabrina brushed it off as me being a total bitch again. I didn’t blame them, because how could they know? Since then we all have picked up the pieces. But I’ve realized, this past week, that I’ve hit acceptance. That I can move on.”

                “Really?” she asked.

                “I have,” she nodded. “It’s still sad, but I have accepted it. I’ll always love her, but she’s gone. And I’m okay with that. I can buy new shoes again.”

                “I’m here if you need to talk though,” she said.

                “I know you are,” she smiled. “Thanks for that. Do you know what I think made me accept it?”

                “What?” she wondered.

                “The Miraculous,” she answered. “I could just take the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous next time I’m with them. I realized I could use them to bring her back to life. It would be so easy too. Especially if I told them why, they might even help me.”

                “So why didn’t you?” she asked.

                “Because she wouldn’t want that,” she said. “She’d want us to move on, to not go crazy trying to hold on to her. Trust me, I’m still keeping these shoes instead of tossing them like the rest. But I’ve gotten to the point where I can buy myself a new pair without breaking down.”

                “I’m glad you’re working through this,” she smiled. “The two of you must have been very close.”

                “Almost like mother and daughter,” she said, giving a small laugh.

                She lifted the bouquet to her face, smelling the pink and white carnations once more as she stepped up to the tombstone. It was still strange, to have accepted it. To have moved on enough that she was giving up their one connection. But she still had Adrien and her dad to help her through, and for her to help them through. She also had several more friends now, each giving subtle comfort, helping her without knowing it just by being there.

                Setting the flowers down, she ran her hand across the engraving. Sliding her finger along the stone, she traced the name ‘Felicia Agreste’, almost as if writing it out. It felt real, and that was okay.

                “You sure you’re not going to cry?” Lancee asked.

                “I’m sure,” she said. “Let’s go home, okay? Do you want to get tea first? There’s a shop around here that has fruit juice she loved. Really, if you think you Kwami have a thing for one type of food, you should have seen her and this juice.”

                “I think we can stop,” she laughed. “Just remember to get it to go. I can’t exactly sit across from you in the shop.”

                “Right,” she smiled. “Don’t worry, I can carry tea and juice back home. You sure you don’t have some sort of power to transform into a person? It would really make everything a bit more convenient.”


	9. It's You

                “It’s you,” Alya laughed, holding a dress up to Chloé. “It’s definitely you!”

                “Just because it has bees on it?” Chloé nearly glared at the offending dress. “No. It’s a ridiculous design! What, should I find something foxy here and say it’s ‘you’?”

                “If you do, you should buy me dinner first,” she laughed.

                “That’s not what I-“ she backpedaled, face turning red. “We’re supposed to be looking for a gift anyway!”

                “I know,” she shrugged, putting the dress back on the rack. “I still think we should get them something Ladynoir themed.”

                “I spotted something earlier!”

                The two girls looked to Trixx, having popped out of her hiding place in Alya’s hair.

                “You’re supposed to stay hidden,” Alya scolded.

                “We’re pretty alone here,” Trixx shrugged. “Plus, I saw something that works!”

                “She has a point,” Chloé said.

                “See?” Trixx laughed. “Now come on! It was back here!”

                Despite the few people in the store, Trixx flew off through the racks. With an exasperated sigh, they followed. She finally stopped hovering over the jewelry counter.

                “Look at these!” Trixx exclaimed.

                “Oh, that’s perfect!” Chloé laughed.

                “They’ll love it,” Ayla snickered.

                “They’ll hate us a little bit,” she said. “But they’ll love it!”

* * *

 

                “Happy six-month anniversary!” Chloé and Alya chorused, holding out their present.

                “Girls, you didn’t have to!” Marinette laughed.

                “Well, you two were aleady being giggly dorks about it,” Chloé shrugged. “I might make fun of you for that, but I’m glad you’re happy.”

                “Thanks,” Adrien laughed, taking the box.

                “Go on!” Alya urged. “Open it!”

                The two of them took to unwrapping the present, tearing the paper gently enough to save. There was a pause when they saw what was inside, but it was quickly followed by a fit of embarrassed laughter from both.

                Inside were two pieces of jewelry. One was a necklace, a simple black choker  with a ladybug pendant hanging down. The other was a bracelet, black with an electric green cat paw pendant. Flipping the pendant over revealed an engraving with Marinette and Adrien’s initials, along with a date exactly six months ago.

                “We saw it and decided ‘it’s so you’,” Alya said.

                “It’s perfect,” Marinette laughed.

                “And a nice inside joke,” Adrien agreed, picking up the bracelet.

                “How could we not get you a Ladynoir gift?” Chloé asked.

                After a moment of thinking, Adrien opened the bracelet and put it on Marinette’s wrist instead. Everyone looked at him a little confused.

                “I think they’re designed for the guy to wear the Chat one,” Alya said.

                “Silly heterosexual gender roles and all that,” Chloé agreed.

                “True,” Adrien nodded, grabbing the necklace.

                “So why are you switching them?” Marinette asked.

                “Because,” he smiled. “Anyone else would be trying to imitate Ladybug and Chat Noir, but we’re the real deal. So, instead of saying ‘we’re just like Ladybug and Chat Noir’, we should have it saying ‘It’s you my heart belongs to!’”

                “That, and you like the choker better,” Chloé said, ignoring Marinette’s sputtering and blushing. “It fits your anime nerd aesthetic.”

                “Don’t give away all my secrets,” Adrien pouted, leaning down so that Marinette could hook the necklace on him.

                “Do you remember your phone’s ringtone is the Sailor Moon theme?” she asked. “As in, the original Japanese Sailor Moon theme?”

                “Actually, they’re personalized now,” he corrected, stealing a kiss from Mari on the way up. “Yours is the second Shugo Chara opening song, so now I can just hear it and go ‘it’s you’.”

                “You’re not helping your case,” Alya snickered.


	10. Secret Sleepover

                “Do you want to stay?” Marinette asked, squeezing his hand.

                “I don’t think your parents would like me staying here when they’re out,” Chat replied.

                “Usually, yes,” she admitted. “But they’ll understand why I’m asking. They will want you to tell your dad though. I know you’re mad at him but-“

                “I know,” he said. “I-I’ll tell him I’m at a friend’s place, but I won’t say which. He’ll call me before he tries to call one of my other friends.”

                “I… ugh,” she sighed. “At least he’ll know you’re safe, even if it is a secret sleepover. You call him while I talk to my parents. Now, the real question is how to explain how I’m friends with Chat Noir.”

                “Good luck?” he suggested.

                While she went to call her parents, Chat locked himself in the bathroom. His phone was still in ‘Adrien’s’ pocket, which meant he had to detransform to call. It was quick, just a call to Nathalie to tell her she was okay, to tell his dad not to freak out and send a search party. Again.

                Nathalie was oddly understanding, allowing him to not say exactly where he was without much protest. Plagg was even more understanding, congratulating him for ‘finally doing some teenage rebellion for once in his life’.  Rolling his eyes, he made sure Plagg ate enough to keep him going all night before transforming again.

                “Good news,” Marinette said as he returned. “They’re okay with your ‘secret sleepover’. Well, I didn’t tell them that you’re giving your dad half-truths of where you were, but they’re okay with you staying the night.”

                “How’d you explain that your ‘friend’ was the one and only Chat Noir?” Chat asked.

                “That was the easy part,” she sighed. “I told them we’d gotten to talking during one of Alya’s interviews, and started hanging out occasionally, but kept it secret because of the whole hero thing.”

                “Not technically a lie,” he said. “She seemed to like dragging you to my solo interviews. So, if that was the easy part, what was the hard part?”

                “Ugh,” she groaned. “They might think I have a thing for you? As in, romantically?”

                “Really now?” he laughed.

                “Don’t laugh! It was embarrassing!” she hid her face. “They gave a condensed ‘safe sex’ talk over the phone!”

                “Oh wow!” he laughed even harder. “Good to know they trust us!”

                “Don’t even!” she threatened, despite laughing. “So how’d it go calling your dad?”

                “Okay, I guess,” he said. “I called his assistant instead, but she’ll get the message through.”

                “Your dad has an assistant?” she asked.

                “Yeah, with his job and all,” he said. “Big thing with a lot of money, needs an assistant to keep himself organized, especially after... Anyway, it’s a long story, and hard to get into unless you really want to know who I am.”

                “Right,” she said. “So, a dad with an assistant. Bet a guy like that doesn’t let you eat a ton of junk food.”

                “Yeah, not without buying it myself,” he laughed. “Full planned meals with licensed nutritionists when I’m at home. And despite what people think, they are definitely healthy meals, planned to my height, metabolism, and exercise level. They even adjusted it to my superhero activities, though they don’t know that’s the real reason.”

                “Which is why you’re that thin?” she said, gesturing to all of him.

                “You should see pictures of my parents at this age,” he said. “I think I actually have more muscle mass than either of them back then.”

                “So,” she smiled oh so innocently. “You wouldn’t mind if I reminded you that I live in a literal bakery with pastries, cookies, and cakes. They’re not as fresh as what we sell, but still sweet and delicious. What your dad doesn’t know can’t hurt him!”

                “Please tell me there’s a movie marathon in our future too?” he asked.

                “Sleepover standard!” she nodded, heading to the kitchen. “What kind do you want to watch?”

                “Isn’t there a standard for that?” he asked, following her.

                “Yeah, but I was giving the options,” she shrugged. “If this was a ‘makeover with the girls’ sleepover, then we go with action or epic fantasy movies.”

                “Most go with chick flicks,” he said.

                “Yeah, in movies they do,” she rolled her eyes. “But there’s nothing like forgetting to take off your facemask because you were to distracted by Legolas going shield surfing. And of course, there’s always horror movies, since we’re already staying up far too late.”

                “What do you suggest?” he asked.

                “Nostalgia movies,” she said. “You’re over here because you need comfort and de-stressing. So, I have a handful of Don Bluth movies guaranteed to make you cry in sadness and happiness, and some fun Disney classics.”

                “Oh, that is perfect for our ‘secret’ sleepover!” he laughed.

                “Only thing missing is pajamas,” she said. “But I’m not sure how your magical super suit works. And even if you can take it off, I don’t think I have something your size.”

                “I can totally pull off a crop top,” he said, sticking his tongue out at her. “But this is plenty comfortable anyway.”

                Once they had grabbed a fair amount of snacks and drinks, it was out to the couch. They spent the night crying at movies and catching pieces of cookies in their mouths. They didn’t fall asleep until early morning, leaning on one another’s shoulders and snoring far too loudly than they would like to admit.


	11. Plushies/Stuffed Animals

                Marinette walked into her classroom Monday morning, a large covered basket in her arms. Stopping in front of the classroom, she got the class’s attention.

                “So, I went a bit overboard,” Marinette began. “I made a little plushie for the girl I babysit, and Alya wanted one, so I ended up doing a full set.”

                She set the basket down and pulled out one of the stuffed toys. It was person shaped, with brown hair, and a black outfit with white markings. With ease, she tossed it to Alya.

                “Is that a Lady Wifi doll?” Kim asked.

                “Yep,” Marinette replied. “And here’s one for you too.”

                Kim caught the stuffed doll on reflex, taking in the red and black wings. It even had a small bow and arrow. An adorable recreation of Dark Cupid.

                “Did you make Akuma dolls of us?” Juleka asked, catching her own Reflekta plushie.

                “What, exactly, are you expecting us to do with these?” Chloé asked, inspecting the Antibug plushie.

                “Anything you want,” Marinette shrugged. “Use them like a regular stuffed toy, get out some therapeutic anger and destroy it, or go the other therapeutic route and see it as ‘taking yourself back from Hawkmoth’. Oh, by the way, Sabrina, yours was hardest since you were invisible, but I think I worked it out fairly well.”

                Sabrina excitedly showed Chloé the Vanisher doll. It looked just like Sabrina’s normal outfit, but all of her colors paled out to off-whites. There was just enough color to make out the detail in the patterns of her vest. There was also a sprinkle of red glitter in her hair.

                “Nothing for Adrien in that basket?” Alya teased.

                “Well, uh, he hasn’t been an Akuma yet,” Marinette defended, blushing hard.

                “It’s okay Mari,” Adrien said with a smile. “If I ever somehow do, I’m sure you’ll make one.”

                “Yeah,” she sighed, almost dreamily. “I mean, I hope I won’t have to, you know? But if you wanted a different one, I’d be happy to make one.”

                Thankfully, Nino distracted him by complaining, once again, about how he got the short end of the stick with Bubbler. But at least Marinette managed to make it cute.

                “I have one more in here,” Marinette said, reaching in once more. “It’s a bit bigger than the rest, because I think everyone wanted something a bit therapeutic. After all, I’ve heard a couple of you saying ‘I hope Ladybug lets us all punch Hawkmoth in the face before they haul him to jail’.”

                From the bottom of the basket, she pulled out a plushie the size of her torso. It was much more rushed than the others, as if she’d gotten the idea at three in the morning and laughed almost maniacally the whole time she was stitching it. To be fair, it was probably what had happened.

                “Is that a Hawkmoth plushie?” Alya snorted with laughter.

                “Please let me drop kick it into the street!” Alix exclaimed.

                “I call first hit!” Chloé demanded.

                “Can I set it on fire?” Rose asked.

                Everyone paused and turned, confused and a little scared at her gleeful smile.

                “What?” Rose asked.


	12. Mon Coeur

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I went for the literal translation, ‘My Heart’, since putting a single other language word reminds me too much of the weeaboo (Ouiaboo) days. Theme still stands.

                Vixen waited on the rooftop, scanning for anything that could be danger. It was an oddly quiet night, though maybe that’s just because she wants something to happen. Still, there wasn’t anything to hear until-

                “Hello, Vixie!”

                Vixen screamed, almost falling off the roof as she jumped. Heart racing, she scrambled to the side and glared at the voice.

                “Are you okay?” Chat Noir asked.

                “Yeah!” she panted. “Just my heart feels like it’ll explode! Why’d you sneak up on me?!”

                “Oh, sorry,” he smiled sheepishly. “I forget how quiet I can be. You know, silent cats and all that. You’ll get used to it. Ladybug has. I can’t even try to sneak up on her.”

                “Hopefully I ‘get used to it’ before my heart gives out,” she sighed. “So, what do you guys do on your ‘patrols’? It seems so secretive. You didn’t even tell m-the Ladyblog.”

                “Honestly?” he shrugged. “Not much.”

                Vixen only raised an eyebrow at the answer.

                “Okay,” Chat said. “So, our ‘patrols’ had originally been just practice. Like, we have powers now, but the first time we met, Ladybug launched herself into me and we ended up tied in her yo-yo and dangling upside down. It’d be better to learn to use them instead of doing that the next time an Akuma showed up.”

                “Honestly, I would pay for footage like that,” Vixen laughed. “So, ‘originally’, you said?”

                “Yeah,” he nodded. “We got more comfortable, and now we talk a lot. But for now, we have you being our new member!”

                “So I get the training,” she said.

                “Yep!” he nodded. “Unfortunately, Ladybug can’t be here tonight. Something happened in her Civilian Life. But luckily, we already decided I’d be teaching you more, since your flute works like my baton.”

                “Fair enough,” she said. “I think I’ve done pretty well with it. Too many hours imitating you with a broom.”

                “Aw, I have a fan!” he teased.

                “I got banned from using yo-yos,” she shrugged.

                “In that case, we can try out your Abilities,” he said. “Ladybug has her Lucky Charm, I have Cataclysm, and I believe you have some kind of Illusion power, right?”

                “That’s what I’m told,” she said. “I asked my Kwami exactly how to do it, and she gave basic instructions, but I don’t know how it ‘works’, you know?”

                “You did better than I did,” he said. “I didn’t even let Plagg finish explaining. As soon as he told me how to transform, I did.”

                “Of course you did!” she laughed.

                They moved a bit further from the edge of the roof. Standing a few feet apart, both pulled out their respective weapons.

                “So, what are you supposed to do?” Chat asked.

                “Play the flute,” Vixen replied, waving the instrument. “Trixx said that the Illusion’s form depends on who I’m using it on, pulling the image I pick from their heart. After all, I won’t always know the person I’m fighting, but the magic can find something they care about.”

                “Okay, so you’ll pick an image from my heart then,” he mused. “Try to think of something that doesn’t give away who I am. Not that the identities matter between us, but Ladybug would kill me if I told you.”

                “So, you’d be okay with people knowing who you are?” she asked.

                “Not everyone,” he said. “Definitely not my dad. But you, Ladybug, a few of my friends? Yeah, that’d be nice.”

                “As much as the public wants to know, I kinda get it, now that I’m a hero too,” she said.

                “Well, for now, let’s try an illusion,” he said.

                Vixen smirked and brought the flute to her lips. Thinking about the scare he gave her earlier, she focused on an idea that would, hopefully, give her a small bit of revenge.

                It was strange, how easily paying came to her. Trixx said she would feel it in her own heart, how and what to play. It was true, somehow. Her fingers felt where to go, and she played a vaguely familiar tune. The part she hadn’t expected was the connection. She could feel the magic reaching into Chat. She wasn’t ‘reading his mind’, but she was ‘reading his heart’, emotions and memories. She couldn’t see them exactly, but she could feel them, and she pulled a memory that tugged on her heart.

                The Illusion appeared behind Chat, smiling as it tapped him on the shoulder. Vixen laughed when he turned and jumped away. The Illusion laughed silently alongside her, mimicking the person it was modeled after.

                “Okay, there goes my heart now,” Chat breathed.

                “So, quite the interesting Illusion,” Vixen smiled.

                “You know who that is?” he asked.

                “Uh…” she thought quickly. “If you watched the Ladyblog as much as I do, you’d see her.”

                The Illusion smiled innocently, twirling a piece of black hair on the side of her head. Still, blue eyes gave a playfulness, almost making it a knowing smirk. The Illusion was almost a perfect recreation of Marinette.

                “So,” Vixen smirked. “I’d like to point out that the Illusion picked something from your memories and emotions. Something that, if my guess at reading said emotions are correct, you really like.”

                “Wh-what makes you think that?” he asked.

                “I told you, I can only pick things that mean something to you,” she said, gesturing at Illusionette. “I went for a person, which led me to love emotions. Now, I couldn’t really tell who was who for the most part. I found a memory that screamed ‘dad’ and another for ‘mom’, but those aren’t good for keeping your identity, and there were definitely some issues you probably don’t want to deal with attached there.

                “I cycled through what I guess were friends,” she continued. “But most of them had a ‘if this one appears it’ll tell me who you are’ feeling. Even I was in there. Side note, thanks for the quick jump to friendship and trust. But this girl’s memory felt both happy and safe. So, who is she to you?”

                “A-a friend,” he smiled, almost dreamily.

                “Just a friend?” she grinned. “She was definitely close to your heart.”

                “My heart, you say?” he said. “I don’t know about that, but for now, we’re friends.”

                Illusionette blushed hard and began to ramble, not that they could hear her. Illusions don’t make noise unless she gave them something to say. They are also only solid if she wanted it to be, which was true for this Illusionette.

                “She’s friends with the Ladyblog girl,” Chat answered. “Whenever I gave a solo interview, she was there. I interacted with her a few times during Akuma attacks. We’ve talked a bit, a lot, since then.”

                “Well,” Vixen smiled. “I’ve heard that she does have a guy she likes, but if that doesn’t work out, I think a superhero is a good runner up! And I also hear that you’re her type!”

                “How would you even-“ he began.

                “Ah, can’t tell you my sources!” she laughed. “It might give me away.”

                “Take all the fun out of it,” he pouted.

                “Yeah, well you didn’t turn down the idea,” she said.

                Chat blushed hard, not caring that Illusionette tugged on his arm. Vixen laughed as the two began to dance. She considered the fact that Illusionette was a good mimic, a combination of what she knew of her and what he knew. It was safe to say she was close to both their hearts.


	13. Chapter 13

                “I see the way you look at her, you know,” Chloé said.

                “What do you mean?” Adrien asked.

                The duo lay on the floor of Chloé’s bedroom. What had started as a martial arts sparring session had ended up with both of them exchanging comments back and forth with their blows. Eventually, they wore one another out, and decided to drop on the cool tile to lower their body heat.

                “Marinette,” Chloé answered. “I see the look on your face when you’re with her. Total elation. You really like her.”

                “Am I that obvious?” he chuckled.

                “You’re not known for your subtlety,” she rolled her eyes.

                “I know you two don’t get along often,” he said.

                “Hey, we’ve been getting along better!” she defended.

                “Thanks to me,” he retorted.

                “Thanks to you,” she repeated, pouting a bit.

                “But are you going to be okay with that?” he asked.  “You can’t really do your whole ‘hopelessly in love with me’ act if I end up with her.”

                “I never said I was known for subtlety either,” she said. “But hey, it kept most people from asking either of us out.”

                “Yeah, except for Kim declaring his love on Valentine’s day,” he rolled his eyes. “And do you have any idea how many fans begged me for just a date? Or sent Valentines? There was a pile of cards and gifts in my room! Some of which were very creepy because no one thought to screen my fanmail for anything other than poison chocolates.”

                “Point taken,” she laughed. “Okay how creepy was this fanmail? Have any names we should blacklist?”

                Before they could get too into the ‘creepy’ fanmail, they decided to relocate to the couch. The two of them flopped onto the cushions, ignoring the fact that they should probably both shower before getting sweat into the fabric.

                “Seriously though,” Adrien said. “The whole Mari thing…”

                “I’m okay with it,” Chloé said.

                “Really?” he asked. “Considering your past with her, well, I didn’t expect you to try and stop me, but I expected a bit of a fuss.”

                “Okay, if you repeat any of this, I’ll kill you,” she warned. “But she’s actually pretty good for you. Like, if I had to chose anyone I know, I’d say you go for her. She’s as sweet as the things in her bakery, and twice as honest. She’s also brilliant and talented. Have you seen her designs? And hey, your dad already likes her.”

                “You know I’m not going to keep quiet about that,” he said.

                “Yeah yeah,” she sighed. “You look so happy with her. As I said, elated. Even if I was petty and such I’d say go for it because I care about you and your happiness more than I care about hating her.”

                “Thanks for that,” he smiled. “Look on the bright side! You’ve been practicing your ‘Shovel Talk’ since we were ten!”

                “Talk about ‘elation’!” she laughed.

                They giggled for a few moments. It turned quiet, still smiling. Chloé reached over and took his hand.

                “Your mom would be happy, you know,” Chloé said. “She would love Marinette, and she’d be really glad you found someone you love.”

                “Thanks,” he said, giving a sad smile. “I think she’d be proud of you too.”

                “Not sure about that, considering how I’ve been,” she said. “But hopefully soon.”

                “Trust me,” he said. “You’re already well enough on your way that she’d be proud.”

                “Thanks,” she said.


	14. Telling the Truth

                Nathalie paced back and forth in front of the door. She was… nervous? Guilty. It had been eating away at her for a while, not that anyone would know most of the time.

                Pulling herself together and adjusting her glasses, she knocked on the door. After a moment, she opened it, seeing Adrien look up at her from the couch.

                “Hey, what do you need?” Adrien asked.

                Nathalie took a breath, walking over to him. He scooted to the side, gesturing for her to sit as well. Despite wanting to stay professional, she did take the offer and sit across from him.

                “Are you okay?” he asked.

                She refrained from smiling at his perceptiveness.

                “I needed to speak with you about something,” Nathalie said.

                “Did something get rescheduled?” he asked, already reaching to check the calendar on his phone.

                “No, it’s- it’s not that,” she said. “It’s about the scarf. The one you got for your birthday.”

                “What about it?” he asked.

                “It was not… directly from your father,” she confessed. “He asked me to get a gift for you.”

                “I kind of figured,” he said, slightly sheepish. “He’s never been good with personalized gifts. He can guess that I’d like a giant tv, because who doesn’t want a giant tv? But he couldn’t pick out a video game for me to save his life. Mom was better at that, but well, she’s not here to pick them out anymore.”

                She gave a sad smile. Really, she didn’t know how he held together after what happened. At least he kept together better than his father did sometimes, though she did understand the difference between losing a mother and losing your soulmate. Still, she couldn’t even begin to imagine.

                “That’s not the only thing,” Nathalie said. “If I’m telling the truth, I’m telling all of it. Between everything, the gift had been last minute. I didn’t have time to go out and order something, so when someone delivered an unsigned present, it seemed like it was meant to be.”

                “Nathalie,” he gave a sad smile. “Okay, I’m a little upset at that. But you seem to be taking it worse than I am.”

                “You’re too sweet for your own good, kid,” she smiled. “It seems silly to try and justify it, but at the time I had thought it was just some fan. One of the many girls in the city that stared at your pictures in magazines.”

                “’At the time’?” he wondered.

                “There’s a pattern,” she answered. “On the inside of the scarf. I didn’t think of it until your classmates’ hat contest. The girl who won put a similar pattern on her hat.”

                “A pattern on the-“ he frowned.

                Without warning he leaped over the back of the couch, making her jump. Within a second he was tearing through the drawer until he found the scarf. She watched him flip it over a few times until he found the hidden stitch.

                There was a moment, where even the air seemed to pause. Then he broke into a goofy smile. It was quite confusing, considering that she had expected some sort of anger..

                “Thanks,” Adrien said.

                “All I did was tell you what you should have known,” Nathalie said. “Really, you should be more mad at me.”

                “I know, but I kinda get why you did it,” he said. “Besides, it still counts as my dad getting me a gift, and it’s hard to be upset when I know Marinette made the scarf!”

                “Well then, I need to get back to work,” she said.

                Nathalie gave a small smile as she stood to leave. ‘Marinette’ was that girl’s name then. She recognized the look on Adrien’s face when he talked about her. After all, it was the same look Mr. Agreste had once given his wife.


	15. Sunshower

                “You know, this makes absolutely no sense,” Chloé sighed.

                “What doesn’t make sense?” Alix asked.

                “This!” she gestured at the sky and the park around them. “It’s raining! Pouring! But not even a cloud anywhere! How does that even happen?!”

                “I asked Ms. Mendeleiev once,” she answered. “Apparently, it’s pouring somewhere else, but the wind’s so strong it pushes the rain here instead.”

                “Huh,” she said, leaning against the tree.

                “Of course, there are some legends,” she smiled.

                “You don’t seem the type for legends,” she smirked.

                “My father and brother are history nerds,” she rolled her eyes. “They study cultures, usually ancient ones, so if I ask a question, they’ll ramble on forever. Anyway, here in France, we call it ‘the Wolf’s Wedding’, but there are a ton of variations across the world. Foxes, monkeys, jackals, even different animals getting married. It’s kind of hard to find an exact origin, but several cultures have some variation of it, though Americans have the most boring and most accurate word ‘Sunshower’.”

                “What do animal weddings have to do with it raining while it’s sunny?” she asked.

                “Apparently, the animals were magical,” she said. “Some sort of spirits that caused the phenomenon because it looked cool. Can’t blame them.”

                “It’s definitely sort of magical,” she agreed. “Not my ideal wedding weather.”

                “And what is your ‘ideal wedding weather’?” she smiled.

                “Clear skies during the ceremony,” she said. “Comfortably warm, but cool enough that I’m not sweating in my dress. Then thunderstorms once we’re in the Honeymoon Suite.”

                “Thunderstorms?” she asked.

                “Thunderstorms and snow days are perfect cuddle weather,” she explained, sliding closer to her.  “It’s cold, kind of wet, sometimes scary if the thunder’s intense enough. So why not get warm by holding the person you love, feel safe in their arms?”

                “Fair point,” she laughed, putting her arm around her. “Though, I don’t think I’d be the most ‘protective’. Not only am I the shorter of us, but you’re the literal superhero little Honeybee.”

                “True,” she chuckled. “But you’re the only one who would try and fight thunder for me. I’m pretty sure ‘fight me!’ is your middle name.”

                “Again, fair point,” she said.

                They laughed more, watching the rain, and discussing what these magical wolves could be doing.


	16. Flowers

                “I don’t know if I can handle this,” Chloé sighed.

                “Sorry,” Lancee laughed. “It’s a side effect.”

                Chloé looked around at all the flowers packed into her bedroom. There were bouquets of everything from Lavender to Bluebells, from poppies to snapdragons. Even sunflowers! They were on tables and shelves and even a few vases lined a path to the couch!

                “Does everyone have side effects?” Chloé asked.

                “Some more than others,” Lancee admitted. “Try giving Chat Noir some catnip. It’s pretty hilarious.”

                “Well, I’ll add that to my list,” she smiled. “Still, I just spent half an hour in a flower shop. Just sniffing everything!”

                “You didn’t have to buy the flowershop,” she said.

                “Trust me, if I didn’t, I would’ve gone back there,” she said. “They just smelled so amazing!”

                “I know!” she said, buzzing around to various vases. “Don’t worry though. It’ll get less intense soon enough. Besides, you’re not the worst with it I’ve ever seen!”

                “What was the worst?” she asked.

                “Probably this one Peacock,” she said. “He was so smitten with his girlfriend, that every time he saw her he would pose dramatically. And if he was in costume? Out came the tailfeathers.”

                “That’s beautiful,” she laughed. “And really sweet.”

                “See?” she said. “At least you only get flower sniffing. Far less embarrassing.”

                “Yeah yeah,” she said, smiling a little. “At least it’ll liven up the place. Think I could plant an actual garden out in the balcony area?”


	17. AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soulmate AU where you can't see color until physical contact with your Soulmate.

                Chloé and Adrien had always seen in color. Rather, they could not remember a time when they couldn’t. After all, the moment they met, Chloé had been just over two weeks old while Adrien had only a few days. It wasn’t long before the newborns had been close enough to brush tiny, chubby, hands.

                Their parents caught on, of course. The two figured out colors far faster than those children seeing only gray. They were happy that their little ones had found their Soulmates so early.

                But then, Chloé and Adrien were a different kind of happy. They were friends, the best of friends. But they frowned watching cartoons, seeing the main character fall in love with their Soulmate, though they had just met. They protested when several adults said that they’d be just like that too. In love. Because they were Soulmates.

Sure, they loved one another. But it wasn’t the way the Prince loved the Princess. They made an agreement with one another by the time they were six. They’d help one another find the one they’d love, because no one would believe they wouldn’t love their Soulmate.

                That promise was questioned when they were eight. Chloé’s parents hadn’t been Soulmates. Her father had seen color for seven years, been in love for seven years, before his Soulmate died when they were still teens. Her mother had yet to meet her own Soulmate when they were married, and when she found him she tore their world apart to be with him.

                Was that what happened, when you loved someone other than your Soulmate? They wondered if they were destined to be like that, if they should just give in and love their ‘Soulmate’, because anyone else wouldn’t truly love them.

Instead, efforts redoubled. They were closer, and stronger now. They wouldn’t let this tear them apart. They loved each other, and would do whatever it took to make the other happy, because they were Soulmates. Romantic or not, their happiness was important.

                They were scared a few years later, seeing Adrien’s father lock himself in his room for two months, relearning how to tell which gray was purple and which was blue. It made them closer once more, perhaps because they were the only ones who understood one another, but scared all the same.

                When Adrien went to school, he saw a few people who had found their Soulmates, and some who hadn’t.  Rose and Juleka were like Chloé and Adrien, having found one another years ago. But Adrien quickly learned that Mylène had dyed her hair many colors only last year, and he noticed the way her eyes flicked to Ivan as she said it.

                The duo soon got to watch a new pair of Soulmates. Marinette had tripped again, pushing Alya into Nino. They saw the duo’s eyes widen, faces alight with wonder as color overtook them.

                Of course, there were two people Adrien really wanted to know about their Soulmates. Marinette and Ladybug. He pestered Chloé about it, but even she didn’t know if Marinette had met her Soulmate. With Ladybug, the question had come up more naturally. She had teased him a little, asking if he hoped she would be his Soulmate. When he didn’t respond right away, she told him that she’d already met her Soulmate, but they weren’t romantic. They had tried, back when they first met, but they were better as friends.

Chat Noir nearly fell off the roof in surprise.  Another pair of platonic Soulmates. He wondered how to tell Chloé that they weren’t as strange, without telling her that half of the other pair was Ladybug.

                Life went on around them, but there was a growing distance. Adrien had new friends, a secret Hero Life. They didn’t talk as much as they once did. Chloé noticed that the colors were a little less vibrant, but that wasn’t anything to worry about. You don’t lose color unless your Soulmate dies, and while he was in danger, Adrien was even more indestructible than ever. Really, she was probably just imagining it.

                Then she couldn’t see Green. She’d noticed when she looked through the dresses in her closet, coming across one she’d long forgotten about. Then she looked for other green things. The tube of mascara in the bathroom, the cover of one of ‘Adrien’s’ videogames, the leaves and grass in the flowers around the hotel. All gray.

                Adrien was fine. She knew he was. After all, if something had happened, she wouldn’t be able to see pink or blue or whatever other colors. Was it… was it possible to ‘unmeet’ your Soulmate? They hadn’t been with one another as often, and now he was also ‘Chat Noir’. Even though ‘Chat’ was still ‘Adrien’, it was a part of him Chloé had yet to meet. But she was sure it was her fault. She was different around others, than she was around him. He had met her again, and he hadn’t liked it.

                Chloé felt like she was going to be sick. In a panic, she threw open the door, planning on running over to Adrien’s place to sort this out, but she ran into him in the doorway. His eyes were wide with panic, but they were also just another shade of gray.

                As soon as he was inside, he confessed that he couldn’t see yellow. Adrien had noticed it when he glanced in the mirror and saw his hair was gray. He’d run over, seeing how much yellow was missing from the world, seeing her hair and jacket as just more grays.

                She almost laughed when Adrien said it was his fault, when he said it was because he was Chat Noir and didn’t tell her. She did laugh at his expression when she told him she knew the whole time. She would know her Soulmate anywhere.

                She said it was her fault they were growing apart. Because it wouldn’t be happening if she and his new friends didn’t refuse one another’s presence.  She promised, she’d do whatever it took to fix this. She’d be a better person if it meant seeing his eyes Green again.

                It took a month. A month of fixing mistakes and crafting new relationships out of what she thought to be shattered chances. She worried, as with more friends for herself they’d be spending less time, but they could spend time with one another and their friends.

                Then, one day, Chloé had been laughing along at something. Just one of those little jokes people with friends made. She heard Adrien’s squeak of surprise. Tilting her head in confusion, she began to ask what was wrong. She took in his expression, hands covering his mouth in surprise, but a near-tears smile was hiding beneath, and green eyes staring at her. That’s when it hit her. Green eyes.

                She tackled him in happiness, both laughing and confusing the hell out of their friends. Still, it didn’t matter. Nothing, not even their own faults, could keep them apart.


	18. Gaming

                “Another game tournament?” Chloé frowned.

                “Yeah,” Adrien smiled. “And I signed you up.”

                “You did what now?!” she gasped.

                “Come on, it’ll be fun,” he said.

                Chloé frowned, but followed him to the ‘game room’. A good chunk of their class was there. Max, of course, since he organized these things. Kim and Alix were also there, getting into the competition already by trash-talking one another. Marinette had been brought back again, and she brought Alya who brought Nino.

                Despite the looks they gave, Chloé refused to glare on her way to her seat. Adrien just kept smiling like always. She sighed and resigned to the competition.

                “So, we’re doing this in a standard competition,” Max announced. “One on one in four pairs, winners play winners until we get our Champion. If we have time we can restart with different matchups. As for rules, no cheat codes, minimal real-world messing with one another. Also, we keep Alix and Kim away from one another as long as possible.”

                “Hey!” both of them protested while everyone laughed.

                “First matches!” he continued, ignoring them. “Me against Kim, Marinette against Alya, Nino and Adrien, then Alix and Chloé.”

                “So, it’s going to be you, Mari, Adrien and Alix next round?” Alya raised an eyebrow.

                “Probably,” he shrugged. “But it’s a good matchup to knock out the least amount of competition first.”

                “Rude,” Chloé muttered.

                “Uh, Chlo?” Adrien smirked.

                “Fine, whatever,” she huffed.

                Max and Kim played first. Their match was heated, and both quickly went to elbowing one another. It was definitely the longest of the three first matches, but Max did win in the end. Alya and Nino both put up a good fight. However, Marinette and Adrien’s combination of luck and ruthlessness won them out fairly quickly. They didn’t even have to resort to cheating.

                Soon enough, Chloé was handed a controller and dragged in front of the tv. Alix gave a friendly smile, but Adrien gave more of a smirk. A subtle hint. She rolled her eyes and picked her player, a winged, gold colored mech.

                Alix started slow, letting Chloé test out the controls first. Instead, Chloé went straight for a hit. Alix frowned at her, but she just gave a sly smirk and hit her again. Hunkering down, Alix hit back. Chloé blocked it with ease.

                That was when Alix decided to go all out. Unfortunately for her, so did Chloé. Fingers flew across buttons, punching out combo after combo, and eventually an ultimate attack. Alix returned the fight in full. No one was sure which one of them was the first to make it physical, but soon the two were jolting back and forth, trying to knock one another off their chairs while still throwing virtual punches.

                By the time the match was over, both girls were upside down on the floor. Chloé cheered, almost embarrassingly so, as her mech did its victory dance, and Alix stared in near-disbelief.

                “Never underestimate Chloé’s competitive spirit,” Adrien smirked, plucking the controller out of her hands.

                “How in the…..” Max muttered.

                “I was Adrien’s only friend for sixteen years,” Chloé rolled her eyes. “Who do you think he played against to get as good as he is?”

                “Okay, I’m changing my bets!” Alix exclaimed. “My money’s on you!”

                “Hey! You can’t change your bets now!” Kim protested.

                “Actually, she can,” Alya said. “She was betting on Mari winning, and since Mari’s still in, she can change it.”

                “How about we see who ends up where?” Marinette said.

                “You’re on!” Chloé declared.


	19. Best Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien knows that Chloé is Honeybee. Chloé knows that Adrien is Chat Noir. They don't know each other knows.

                “You can have more than one best friend, right?” Chat Noir asked.

                “You talking technical definitions or reality?” Honeybee asked in return.

                “Reality,” he said, laying back on the rooftop. “I mean, I have my best friend from childhood, but also a newer best friend who’d do anything for me. And there’s two girls in my class who I’d easily call a best friend. Then there’s our team. How can we not be best friends, considering how close we all are?”

                “No, I get it,” she smiled. “I haven’t had that many friends, just two really. And one I wasn’t a good friend to. But you four are amazing. And I’m working toward new friends, ones that could easily be best friends soon enough.”

                “That’s weird though, right?” he asked. “I mean, the title ‘best friends’ means it has to be one, right?”

                “But they’re all your best, right?” she smiled.

                “Exactly,” he said. “All of you, it’s like I’ve known you forever. Especially you.”

                “Please tell me this isn’t leading anywhere romantic,” she made a face.

                “No, not romantic,” he said. “I’ll save the romance for Ladybug. Or maybe Jade. No, you feel more like my first best friend.”

                “What a coincidence,” she laughed. “I was just telling my first best friend that if he’s not secretly you, then you’re his soulmate. Dramatic and full of puns.”

                “Sounds like a great guy,” he snickered. “But seriously, you’re okay with me having more than one best friend?”

                “Why wouldn’t I be?” she wondered. “I have other best friends too. And I’m glad you have so many people to count on.”

                “True,” he said. “I’m glad you do too. And hey! You’re a Hero now too! You could even become best friends with someone twice!”

                “I think I’ve already gotten there,” she smiled.


	20. Caught

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Has a small moment of sad, but it comes from love so it totally counts.

                At eight years old, Adrien was a decent enough height to snag a tray of cookies off the counter. A perfect tray of brightly colored reindeer and Santa cookies. Of course, height wasn’t the problem. It was a little too big of a tray to balance properly while moving fast, but he tried. At least until he heard his name.

                “Adrien! What are you doing?”

                Sheepishly, he looked up to just behind him. She was beautiful, wearing the red and white Christmas dress Adrien’s father had designed specifically for the Mayor’s party. She captured the eyes of quite a few people, most of which were disappointed to find out she was happily married. Unfortunately, Felicia Agreste was paying more attention to him and the tray of cookies right now.

Caught red-handed, Adrien decided to turn back and hang his head. She knelt down to his eye-level.

                “I think that’s a few too many cookies, sweetheart,” his mother said.

                “Well, Chloé’s having some of them!” Adrien defended.

                “Still, that’s a bit much for you two,” she said. “If you eat all those you might feel sick later.”

                “Well, it’s a tea party! With a bunch of guests!” he said.

                “Really, which guests?” she asked.

                “Well, her and me,” he said. “Snugglebear, Crystal, Bunbun, Mr. Cat-“

                “Adrien, I don’t think Mr. Cat and Snugglebear are that hungry,” she said. “I know Bunbun would probably prefer something a little more vegetable-like, perhaps the carrot and celery platter?”

                “Yeah,” he frowned. “But Chloé’s sad! Her mom hasn’t come back yet, and it’s Christmas! She shouldn’t be sad on Christmas!”

                Felicia’s face softened a bit. Adrien saw a gambit of emotions run through her, though he wouldn’t understand them for many years to come. Grabbing a handful of cookies off the tray, she kissed him on the forehead.

                “That’s a little better,” she smiled. “After all, it is Christmas and she needs cheering up. So, how about this: As long as you two go to bed on time for Santa to come, we’ll keep this a Christmas secret from your father, alright?”

                “And what is being kept a secret?”

                Both mother and son looked up with the same sheepish expression to see Gabriel Agreste standing behind his wife.

                “Go on Adrien,” his mother said. “Don’t keep Chloé waiting.”

                Adrien nodded and gleefully ran off with the tray of cookies. Felicia stood, smiling as she took her husband by the arm.

                “That’s far too many cookies for one child,” Gabriel stated.

                “He and Chloé are having a tea party,” Felicia smiled. “With their stuffed animals.”

                “Stuffed animals don’t eat,” he frowned.

                “Oh, don’t get a sour face on me now,” she said, shoving one of the Santa cookies in his mouth. “He’s trying to cheer his friend up. It’s her first Christmas since her mother walked out, so of course she’s going to be sad. One night of too many cookies isn’t going to ruin them.”

                “You give in too quickly,” he said through the cookie.

                “And you don’t give in enough,” she replied. “Honestly, they don’t really even know what happened, but they can tell something’s wrong and it hurts all the same. Chloé is sad, so Adrien is sad, and I’ll do anything to help them feel better after she……... Stars, if Élise ever shows her face again, I’ll feel ‘protective’ enough to be my own Champion.”

                Felicia frowned, catching the words before she continued down that line of thought. She felt the weight of the purple brooch hidden in the decorations of her dress. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Gabriel’s hand instinctively reach for his jacket pocket.

Despite the frown, she meant those words. Chloé was like a sister to Adrien, which made her like a daughter by extension. She’d do anything to protect her children. Giving a sigh, she opted to bite into a cookie instead of wallow in negativity.

                “They need this,” Felicia said. “It’s too much sugar, but they need something overly happy right now. Besides, I can always slip into their little party and grab a few more cookies away from them.”

“Think you’ll get there before they eat them all?” Gabriel asked.

                “Trust me, kids playing tea party?” she smirked. “Most of those cookies will stay on the little plastic plates from the play tea set until after the ‘party’ is over. I might get a lecture about eating Mr. Cat’s cookies, but I can snag a few.”

                “Just remember,” he warned. “If the two of them end up with stomachaches in the morning, you’re not going to get to see them all overjoyed at the presents you bought them. What was it you had said? ‘They need something overly happy right now’?”

                “Oh, fair point,” she thought, pulling him down to kiss his cheek. “Thanks dear. I’ll go grab a few more of those cookies.”

                Gabriel gave a small smile as his wife hurried off through the crowd.


	21. Distance

                The four of them gathered around Chloé’s computer screens as the call went through.  There was a pickup, and Adrien’s face appeared on a beach.

                “Hey guys!” Adrien greeted.

                “Hi!” everyone chorused back.

                “How’s Florida?” Chloé asked.

                “The beaches are beautiful,” Adrien said. “Perfect for these photoshoots. But the weather is nuts. First off, it changes way too quickly.”

                “Really?” Marinette laughed.

                “Yeah!” he sighed. “It was clear skies, then all of a sudden it started pouring rain. They canceled the shoot, but by the time they packed up the cameras it was sunny again! And don’t even get me started on the humidity! I don’t think I’ve been dry since I got here!”

                “Gross, dude,” Nino said.

                “So, with all the rain cancellations, is everything still on schedule?” Alya asked. “I think Paris is starting to miss their favorite pun-making Hero, though thankfully there haven’t been any Akumas to deal with. But people still miss seeing you occasionally.”

                “Hasn’t Honeybee been making all the puns in my absence?” Adrien smirked.

                “Unfortunately,” Marinette rolled her eyes. “She’s almost worse than you.”

                “Hey, I have a talent for it!” Chloé defended. “Anyway, I bet your dad hates the weather even more than you do.”

                “Most definitely,” he chuckled. “There’s a phrase here of ‘it looks like he swallowed a lemon’, and a lot of the locals seem to use it for him. Not to his face yet, thank stars.”

                “So, he looks the way he always does?” Alya asked.

                “Yeah yeah,” he rolled his eyes as they snickered. “Still, it sucks being so far from you guys, even if it is just a few weeks.”

                “Yeah, well, why do you think we use Chloé’s place to call you?” Nino asked. “She can afford the long-distance phone bill!”

                “Fair point,” Chloé said. “So when are you coming back?”

                “So far we’re still on schedule,” Adrien said. “I should be back by next week.”

                “Ugh,” Marinette groaned. “Why can’t you just beam yourself back?”

                “Not one of my Chat powers,” he shrugged. “I think. Do any of the Miraculous have teleportation powers?”

                “No clue,” Alya said. “But if they did, we’d pop over and drag you back.”

                Adrien started to respond, but then looked up past his phone. Someone was calling for him, though most of the group didn’t know enough English to guess for what.

                “Sorry guys, I need to go!” Adrien said. “Remember, it’s only a six hour time difference, so call me whenever! I’ll try and answer.”

                “Bye!” they all waved.


	22. Whoops!

                Marinette hadn’t meant to toss a cake on her friends. She really wondered why anyone trusted her to carry food. She wondered why she lived on the top floor, with the most amount of stairs possible, including the ladder to the roof. She had made it up all of that, only to trip over nothing and send frosting flying.

                Thankfully, they weren’t angry. They laughed.

                “Well, I guess dessert’s on me,” Adrien smirked.

                Chloé rolled her eyes before picking up a scoop of cake and shoving it in his face. He returned the favor, and when Alya laughed she got a facefull of cake as well, which she passed to Nino. Soon enough, it was a full on food fight. At least until someone, no one’s sure who, missed the mark and sent a slice over the side of the railing.

                “Whoops!” all of them grimaced.

                Before they could wonder what to do, Marinette’s mom popped her head out of the trapdoor.

                “Dears,” Madame Cheng said, her smile and voice much less sweet than they seemed. “I understand you want to have fun, but please keep from dropping food on our customers?”

                “Yes, ma’am,” they chorused.

                “Also, remember to clean up out here,” she said. “You probably don’t want frosting and cake crumbs sitting out with all the pigeons!”


	23. Sick Day

                Marinette felt like she was dying a little bit. Sore throat, stuffed up nose, major headache and dizziness. It was just a generic cold, but still, it sucked. Her mom and dad popped up as often as they could, but as they were running the bakery, even if they had time they had to avoid her for the possibility of spreading the germs to the food.

                Of course, that’s what friends are for. Alya and Nino came through the door of her room with what they knew best. Food. Spicy food that would burn out her sinuses and let her breathe. Adrien had stopped by a store and grabbed a handful of different medicines, not knowing what she had already taken or what she liked better between pills, syrups, and flavors. Chloé had swung by a little later, digging into her Kwami’s tea and honey stash for a nice throat-soother.

                Marinette told them to leave, so they wouldn’t get themselves sick either. Of course, stubborn as they are, they stayed. A few other classmates stopped by with gifts too. Alix gave her a new game, so she wouldn’t be as bored sitting home for what would probably be at least a week. Nathaniel had sheepishly dropped off a get well card he made, signed by the rest of the class, a few teachers and even other students she’d met.

                Despite telling everyone again to go home and that she was fine, she did like having them there. Not for the ‘attention’ itself, but because it meant they cared. She might’ve said that out loud in a slightly slurred manner due to both sick-brain and being far gone on cold meds, because everyone petted her head affectionately and said they loved her too.

                Thankfully, somehow, there were no Akumas while she was sick. Of course it was a coincidence, as how would Hawkmoth know Ladybug was sick, and even if he did know, why would he be nice enough to give her the time off?

Still, she was glad for the break. And she was glad that her friends didn’t have to run off superheroing instead of taking care of her. It didn’t stop them from discussing the hypothetical of whether they would bring the Butterfly to Mari for her to transform and purify it in her room, or if they should trade off and have one of them use the Ladybug Miraculous to fix everything.

                Of course, that led to bickering over which one of them would get the Ladybug Miraculous. Which left Marinette laughing despite the headache.


	24. Wrong Number

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little angsty at a point but focuses on the talking and I couldn’t think of a 100%fluff scenario for this prompt..

                “You’ve got a call!” Tikki announced.

                “My phone’s not ringing?” Marinette replied, waving said phone at her.

                “No, someone’s calling your yoyo?” she replied.

                Marinette raised an eyebrow, but decided to transform anyway. It was probably Chat calling, since he was the only person who could call her yoyo, right? Who knows what he wanted.

                Sure enough, her yoyo was ringing. She flipped it open like a phone, but it didn’t have a video call like usual. Just a voice call.

                “Hello, kitten, what do you want?” Ladybug sighed.

                “Kitten?”

                That wasn’t Chat’s voice. It was a girl’s voice.  It sounded a bit familiar, but voices tended to sound weird over the phone.

                “How’d you even get this number?” Ladybug wondered.

                “Sorry, I tried to call my friend,” the girl said. “I thought this was one of his numbers. I know he said I’m not supposed to call this one, but he wasn’t answering his regular phone so I tried this one and…. Ugh. Guess I got it wrong. ”

                “Are you okay?” she asked.

                “Hm?”  the girl said. “Oh, uh, not completely. It’s… a long story.”

                “Well, if you can’t get a hold of him, I’d be happy to listen,” she said.

                “No offense, but I don’t even know you,” the girl stated. “Forgive me for not wanting to talk to a stranger about my problems.”

                “Sorry,” she said. “But you sounded like you needed someone, and talking to a stranger can be therapeutic. After all, I’m not biased or such, if it’s an argument you need advice on, and I can’t hold any of it against you or judge you.”

                The girl on the other end stayed quiet. But she didn’t hang up. Ladybug waited, giving a comforting smile despite the fact that the girl couldn’t see her.

                “The friend I was calling,” the girl said. “This is…. It’s about his mom. It’s her birthday today…”

                “Did you need gift ideas?” Ladybug asked when the girl trailed off.

                “No, not that,” she was probably shaking her head. “She, uh, died. Less than a year ago.”

                “Oh, I-I’m sorry,” she said. “I can’t imagine what your friend’s going through.”

                “I sort of can,” she sighed. “She wasn’t my mom, but she was the closest I had. It doesn’t quite compare, but it still hurts a lot.”

                “Wow,” she said. “I really can’t imagine that. So, you’re sad because you’ve been thinking about her.”

                “Yeah,” she said. “We’re all coping as we can. Honestly, as terrible as it is, I’m not in the middle of a break down, you know? It’s just because it’s her birthday I was thinking about her. I had been calling my friend to see if he wanted to have some sort of ‘celebration of life’ thing, you know? Remember old times and all that. And also to make sure he was okay. I might be doing good, but considering he wasn’t answering his regular phone… I don’t know.”

                “I’m sure he appreciates you caring about him,” she smiled.

                “I know,” she said. Ladybug could hear the smile in her voice. “And he has more friends than just me to comfort him. It’ll be okay. We’re okay, and that’s good, you know?”

                They talked for a few more minutes. Just simple things, pastries, an event in the park later, so on and so forth. It was so oddly normal, talking to a stranger like talking to a friend.

                “Thanks,” the girl said. “For listening. You were right, it did help a bit, just to say it out loud. To talk to someone who doesn’t know me, just for a little bit. ”

                “Glad I could help,” Ladybug replied.  “I’d understand if you want to try calling your friend again though.”

                “Oh, right,” she laughed. “I think I’ll do that. He should probably answer by now. Thanks again!”

                “You’re welcome,” she said, nodding though she couldn’t hear her. “Goodbye.”

                Ladybug closed the yoyo and dropped her transformation. Tikki stared at her thoughtfully when she reappeared.

                “That was strange,” Tikki said. “I didn’t know your communicators had accessible numbers.”

                “It would be useful, I guess,” Marinette thought. “Give Ladybug’s number to the mayor and maybe the police station so that they can call when Akumas show up.”

                “Fair point,” she said.

                “Still, I’m glad that girl’s okay,” she said. “It was nice, talking to her. I wouldn’t mind doing it again.”


	25. Favorite Things

                If, a year and a half ago, you had asked Chloé Bourgeois what her favorite things were, you would have been given a list. Shoes, dresses, jewelry. A few toys and such, nostalgic items kept from childhood. Her phone, of course. Maybe, though she would never admit it, the game systems she kept hidden for only when Adrien came by.

                If you had asked a year ago, you’d get a similar list. But there would be other items on it. The way Adrien would help keep her together. The memory of Felicia Agreste’s laugh. The comforting smile her father gave her, because even though she knew he hurt as well, he tried to be there for her. The way Sabrina didn’t completely understand, but did what she could.

She’d added material things to the list as well, all gifts from people she loved. The flats Felicia gave her for Christmas, the video game Adrien had bought months ago, the book she hadn’t actually read but Sabrina thought she’d like, the bracelet her father bought. Even Adrien’s father tried to buy a gift, picking an elaborate fountain pen instead of the easy choice of a dress from his fashion line. He sucked at picking out gifts, and Chloé never used it at all, but she loved it all the same.

If you asked now, her list would be different. The feeling of flying as Honeybee, the thrill of post-battle cheering. And her friends, all of them. The way Marinette always smelled of cookies, the safe feeling when Adrien held her hand. The bounce in Alya’s hair and the sound of Nino’s laugh and the way Sabrina lit up when she talked about something she loved. Watching the Kwami bicker as they fly around or attempt to use human-sized utensils. The taste of Alix’s kiss, like sour cherry candy. The feeling when she walked into the classroom, and they would no longer glare or ignore her. They would smile and wave and it made her feel like singing. That is the list of her favorite things.


	26. Umbrella

                Chloé stared out the window, watching the rain come down. Somehow, she could still hear Marinette’s music over the thunder and rain. The girl in question was working on a dress for Chloé, commissioned for a party she had to attend this weekend. Well, maybe ‘working’ was a generous term.

                “You seem awfuly happy,” Chloé remarked.

                “I just love thunderstorms,” Marinette said.

                “No, I know that look,” she said.

                “What look?” she asked.

                “That one,” she gestured to all of her. “That goofy smile, the humming and dancing. Giggling to yourself. You’re thinking of Adrien but I know he hasn’t done anything specific to earn this right now, so why’s he on your mind?”

                “You’re going to laugh,” she said.

                “Probably,” she shrugged. “You two are the dorkiest couple. So, spill, what is it?”

                Marinette set down the sowing supplies. Still with that goofy smile, she walked over to a corner of the room. After rifling through a shelf for a moment, she pulled out an umbrella and walked back.

                “Remember the first day I met Adrien?” Marinette said. “You had put gum on my seat, and I yelled at him because I thought he was in on it?”

                “Oh yeah, that,” Chloé made a face. “Sorry again, about that one.”

                “Yeah, well, anyway,” she laughed. “Later, as we were leaving school, it started storming. Adrien came up to apologize for it, explain himself. At first I was still mad, but he was so sweet and sincere, and he opened up, you know? Then he offered me this umbrella.”

                “Okay, still not seeing it,” she said, smirking as she did.

                “It was like time stopped in that half-second,” she sighed dreamily. “There was a flash of lightning and the roar of thunder, and he looked…. Magical. I swear he was glowing, but a soft glow, like moonlight. His hair looked like literal sunshine, and his eyes-“

                “Let me guess,” she said. “His eyes looked like stars?”

                “It sounds dumb, since his eyes are green,” she chuckled. “But yes. It was probably just a reflection from the lightning, but I swear I saw stars in his eyes. And that was the moment I fell in love with him.”

                Chloé was quiet at first. Then she began to snicker. Soon enough, she was almost crying with laughter. Marinette huffed and rolled her eyes.

                “Okay, I’m not laughing for the reason you think!” Chloé said between giggles.

                “Really?” she asked, unconvinced.

                “So, okay, here’s the thing,” she said. “I’ve heard a very similar story. About a boy in the rain, offering his umbrella. Except he described the girl as ‘glowing like the sun, with hair as dark as night and galaxies spiraling in her beautiful blue eyes’. While he didn’t realize it until a while later, because he’s an idiot and had been focused on ‘Ladybug’, that was the moment Adrien began to fall in love with you.”

                Somehow, Marinette’s grin got even goofier as her face blushed redder. Chloé gave a few more snickers as the girl picked up her phone to call.

                “You called it ‘magical’,” Chloé laughed. “But Adrien said it was a bit ‘Miraculous’.”

                She laughed as a pillow flew across the room to hit her in the face.


	27. Profound Confession

                “Yep, that’s my ‘profound confession’,” Chloé rolled her eyes. “I’m just as much of a nerd as Adrien.”

                “You do realize all of Paris knows about your Ladybug cosplay, right?” Alix laughed.

                “At least only you, Adrien, Sabrina and Ladybug know about the literal LARP sessions,” she groaned, flopping onto the couch.

                “And Chat Noir, right?” she asked.

                “Oh, right,” she said. “Him too.”

                Alix snickered at the news.

                “Don’t make fun of me!” Chloé exclaimed, playfully shoving her.

                “Come on, Honeybee,” Alix laughed. “We all have a bit of nerd in us.”

                “Yeah, but you don’t drag your friends into LARP sessions,” she said.

                “First off, I don’t think you did much dragging,” she said. “Adrien’s a nerd, and Sabrina looked like she was having fun. Secondly, I’m pretty sure everyone’s a nerd, some are just more secretive than others.”

                “You’re not a nerd!” she argued.

                “Let’s see,” she said, counting on her fingers. “I play videogames. Adrien sent me a few anime he’d think I’d like and he was right because Fullmetal Alchemist:Brotherhood is kickass. If you asked nicely, you could probably get me in a costume. And while it’s not the ‘geek nerd’ and more ‘classic nerd’, I know far too much about history and ancient cultures, even if I retell the legends with my own personal flair that includes swearing and innuendos.”

                “Right, museum stuff,” she said.

                “Seriously,” she said. “Everyone’s a nerd if you dig enough.”

                “Probably,” she agreed, slumping further down the couch. “Still, some nerdiness is worse than others and did you say you’d wear a costume if I ‘asked nicely’?”

                “I already have the pink hair,” she rolled her eyes. “I think that alone gives you costume ideas.”

                “You’re not wrong,” she mused.


	28. I got this for you but...

                Alix knocked on Chloé’s bedroom door. Well, ‘bedroom’ was only a technicality, as she lived in the extravagant suite of her dad’s hotel that had a bedroom, living room, and a rarely used small kitchen, which made it almost like an apartment. Still, the sentiment existed.

                After hearing a call of allowance inside, she opened the door and stepped in, setting a bag with her swimsuit just inside.

                “I’ll be out in a minute!” Chloé said, her hand waving from behind a wall.

                “Okay,” Alix laughed.

                Looking for a place to sit, she became confused. There were flowers everywhere. Vases on tables and chairs and the floors. All sorts of flowers of every color. Honestly, the scent was a little overwhelming.

                The part that made her frown though, was the fact that her own bouquet was just a small boat in the ocean in comparison. Alix wasn’t usually the person to feel insecure about something. Really she might have a little too much confidence. But she was the type to make an impression, which was kind of hard now.

                Before she could think to hide her gift among the others and make up with something bigger later, Chloé walked out. She was wearing a yellow swimsuit with black accents, and a white cover dress. Her hair was still up, oddly enough, kept in place with a silver hair comb.

                “Hey,” Chloé greeted, smiling widely.

                “Hey, uh,” Alix began, gesturing to the bouquet. “I got this for you but…”

                With that she gestured to the room. Chloé looked around at the rest of the flowers. She then sighed and brought her hand to Alix’s face.

                “The flowers are… a long story,” Chloé said, bringing her closer. “I bought them myself because of…. It’s weird. But thanks for the gift. It means a lot.”

                “Not to self,” Alix laughed in between a kiss. “Next time, buy chocolate.”


	29. I do

                Another day, another Akuma. This one was after Chloé, again. To be fair, it wasn’t her being rude or anything this time. The barista did mess up her order, and Chloè had been upset about it, but she didn’t yell or say anything rude. Apparently the Barista had other things going on in her life, and Chloé just happened to be the minorly disgruntled straw that broke the camel’s back.

                 Technically, the Butterfly had already been on its way to turn her. So, despite having nothing to do with this Akuma’s real problem, Chloé was the last ‘rude’ person, and was the focus of the rage at the time.

                And just like the last time that happened, Ladybug had left Chat Noir to protect her in her room, while she went on a mission to find who the Akuma would attack next.

                “Hey, you want to watch something?” Chloé asked.

                “I’m supposed to be protecting you,” Chat protested.

                “You can protect me without standing there like an actual Guard,” she said, gesturing to his posture.

                He didn’t move to the couch. Instead, he took the smartass response and shifted into his ‘standard anime elbows-up pose’. She rolled her eyes and turned on the tv.

                “Fine,” Chloé said. “I’m going to watch something, and you’re going to watch me watching it. And if you happen to get sucked into it, then I won’t tell Ladybug. Besides, if the Akuma comes back, we’ll hear her before she gets here. Even with fictional explosions and a spinechilling soundtrack.”

                She popped a dvd in the player and waited as the menu appeared. She smirked, hearing the sound of footsteps as he moved closer. The opening scene was loud and intense, but what does one expect from the sinking of Atlantis?

                Instinctively, as the scene progressed, Chloé reached over and took his hand. Holding tighter, they watched the scene where the main character’s mother is Taken.

                “How did you…” Chat muttered.

                “How did I what?” Chloé asked.

                “Nothing,” he said, taking his hand back. “Just…. How’d you know I’d need that.”

                “You seemed like it would upset you,” she said, pausing the movie.

                “How?” he wondered. “As far as you know, I’ve never even seen this movie before. And even if you knew I’d seen it, how would you know I’d…”

                “I do,” she said. “I… I’m not going to explain it. But I just do.”

                “Chloé, I’m not going to leave this alone,” he said.

                “Of course you’re not,” she sighed. “But I’m begging you, drop this. Please. I don’t want you or Ladybug to be mad at me for something I can’t control! I can’t handle you being mad at me again!”

                There was a moment of silence. Chat sat on the couch, reaching out to her. But Chloé tried to turn away. It didn’t work.

                “You know, don’t you?” Chat asked.

                “I do,” she whispered. “Of course I do, Adrien. I know I joked that if you weren’t ‘Chat Noir’ then he was your soulmate, but I knew.”

                “For how long?” he asked, taking her hand again.

                “The whole time?” she said. “I just saw you in that getup being, well, you. It was a little bit overdramatic, but I figured it was just because you had the freedom of a mask. But I knew it was you.”

                “I should’ve figured you’d find out,” he smiled.

                “Thanks for, you know, not being mad I figured it out,” she said.

                “Yep. Totally going to be mad at you for knowing me well enough to see through a mask,” he retorted. “I get it. If you’d been Chat Noir, I would’ve seen it. That was one of the reasons I was confused and a bit put off when Alya suggested you were somehow Ladybug. She suggested it, and I was sure I would have been able to see it.”

                “’A bit put off’?” she wondered.

                “Not in that way,” he defended. “But as I’m sure you’ve figured out, knowing me as well as you do, I love Ladybug. Romantically. So when Alya suggested that you might somehow be Ladybug…”

                “Ugh, yeah, I get the picture,” she stuck her tongue out.

                “Says the girl who constantly plays up the ‘hopelessly in love’ act,” he smirked.

                “At least that’s strategic!” she defended.

                “Yeah yeah,” he laughed. “Still, it’s good to have someone know, you know?”

                “I do,” she smiled. “Well, maybe I don’t, since I’ve never been a superhero. But I get it. Now you have someone to talk about that knows both of you.”

                “So, want to continue the movie?” he asked. “Unless Ladybug calls me. Then you pause it, because if you watch the Crystal Chamber scene without me, then you’ll see me mad at you.”

                “Whatever you say, Adrikitty,” she laughed.

                “Please, no,” he sighed.


	30. Unmasked

                “Does the mask come off?” Marinette asked.

                She technically knew the answer. After all, how could she not? Still, she was curious, and she had to pretend she knew less than she did.

                “I…honestly have no idea!” Chat Noir replied. “I haven’t actually tried. I mean, your friend Alya tried to tug Ladybug’s mask off, but it stuck to her face. So at the very least it can’t come off without permission!”

                “You never tried?” Marinette wondered.

                “I hadn’t thought of it,” he laughed. “I mean, it’s a magical outfit. If I want to take off the mask, I just turn off the whole thing.”

                “Come on, I bet Ladybug’s tried,” she said. “If she were alone in her room after having Alya attempt to yank it off, she’d probably have tested it out to see if there was a way.”

                “Fair point,” he conceded. “So, curious about my identity, are we?”

                Marinette froze. It was a difficult question. Of course she’d love to know. If she could put a name to him, an actual face to him, she’d like that. But there were so many reasons not to. She leaned further into her side of the mattress.

                “I wouldn’t be upset, if you wanted to know,” Chat said.

                “Really?” Marinette asked. “I know that out of you and Ladybug, you’re the one more lax about your identity but….”

                “Listen, Ladybug does have a point of it being dangerous for others to know,” he admitted. “And honestly, I wouldn’t be okay with everyone knowing.  Being Chat Noir has certain… freedoms, you know? No one knows who I am, so I can be whoever I want. Not that I’m much different in real life, perhaps a bit less over the top. But people will hold that against ‘Chat Noir’, not me or my friends and family.”

                “So you want to keep it secret then?” she wondered, unsure whether to feel disappointed or relieved.

                “From most people, yeah,” he said. “There are five people I’d trust with it, because I know them well enough to know they’d keep it secret. Ladybug is one, three are friends, and the fifth is you.”

                Chat took her hand, putting in on his cheek. Marinette felt like she stopped breathing, but in a good way. Maybe.

                “W-wouldn’t you think Ladybug would be mad at you?” she asked.

                “Probably,” he said. “I’d tell her, of course. But I trust you enough that I don’t care if you know. I kind of want you to know, even if it’d be weird.”

                Marinette brought her other hand to his face. Running her thumb over the mask, she felt it out. It seemed as if it was just stuck there, like a weak magnet. Yet she could feel the edge come up, begging to be lifted. Gently, her fingers gripped the sides. She closed her eyes and pulled softly.

                It came away as if he had just been balancing the mask on the bridge of his nose. There he was. Unmasked. But the air had a different feel to it, one that made her keep her eyes closed.

                He was Chat Noir, he would always be Chat Noir. He was also whoever he really was. But here, all full of magic but without the mask, there was something about it, and it scared her.

                It wasn’t just that that had scared her. It wasn’t even just knowing who he was that scared her. It was the fact that if she found out who he was, she’d have to tell him who she was as well. It wouldn’t be right to keep that from him. He trusted her, for whatever reason. She should trust him. And she did. She would be okay with telling him. But now wasn’t the time.

                Eyes still closed, she put the mask back on his face. Hesitantly peeking out, she saw him tilting his head in confusion.

                “You didn’t look?” he asked as she took back her hands.

                “It’s….” she tried to think of a way to explain it without telling him. “I don’t think I’m ready for that step. I will be, I want to be, and I’m okay with that. But for right now, I can’t.”

                “That’s okay,” he smiled. “When you do want to know, you can.”

                “Why?” she wondered. “Why do you trust me with this?”

                “It’s complicated,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “But the ones I trust are the ones who have seen me…. Unmasked, I guess.”

                “Are you saying I already know you?” she asked.

                “Can’t tell you that if you don’t want to know who I am,” he replied, tapping her nose. “But it’s not what I meant. I meant you’ve seen me, the real me. Not just my name or face, but me as a person. That’s why I trust you.”

                She smiled at the thought. Perhaps tomorrow she would be unmasked as well.


	31. I'm Yours, Forever

                “What…what happens after we defeat Hawkmoth?” Marinette asked.

                “No idea,” Tikki shrugged. “Depends on how the fight goes, and what you want to do with him. I’m not sure Human Culture has any laws against giving angry people magic powers, but you could try for jail time if you really wanted.”

                “No, I meant…” she sighed, setting down her pencils. “What happens to our team? To the Miraculous?”

                “What happens?” she parroted, floating closer to her face.

                “Yeah,” she said. “We’ll defeat Hawkmoth eventually. And then Paris won’t need Ladybug or Chat Noir or Vixen or Jade Turtle or Honeybee. What happens then? What happens to you? We were given the Miraculous to fight Hawkmoth, but without him….do you go away?”

                Tikki smiled. Hugging Marinette’s cheek, she radiated an aura of warmth and comfort.

                “Hawkmoth isn’t the only reason for the Miraculous,” Tikki said. “We existed before him, and we’ll exist after him. You can still be Ladybug, and your friends can still be heroes, fighting other evils or villains. And I’ll be here too.”

                “So you won’t disappear?” she asked. “No magical Guardian is going to come collect the Miraculous?”

                “No,” she smiled. “Once you use a Miraculous, it’s a part of you. There are only two ways to even get close to severing the connection. You either have to give it up-“

                “Which I tried to do,” she frowned.

                “Tried,” she repeated. “You were scared, but you didn’t completely reject it. A part of you wanted to keep it, because you knew that you had to do something. And even if it had cut off the connection, you fixed it. You accepted it, for the best of reasons.”

                “What’s the other way?” she asked.

                “Death,” she answered. “And even then, while the Miraculous won’t be a part of you, you’ll be a part of it. And me. We remember every Chosen, and so do the Miraculous.”

                “So, I’m yours, forever,” she said, smiling as she did.

                “Exactly,” she said. “I’ll be with you as long as you want, and as long as I can.”

                “Thanks, Tikki,” she laughed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for being with me on this ride! I'm sad it's over, but hopefully I can work on my other projects soon!


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